Former Jana Sena leader Bolisetti Satyanarayana has questioned the Andhra Pradesh government’s decision to spend heavily on newspaper advertisements featuring Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu in connection with development works being undertaken by urban local bodies.
The government released front-page advertisements carrying Naidu’s photographs, highlighting funding and development initiatives for municipalities and municipal corporations.
Bolisetti said the state government should strengthen local self-governance rather than project development in municipalities and corporations as being driven entirely by the Chief Minister. He suggested that the money being spent on extensive publicity could instead be allocated to local bodies for development works.
He also questioned the practice of the Chief Minister virtually inaugurating development works that fall within the jurisdiction of elected municipal corporations and municipalities.
According to Bolisetti, such programmes, particularly when held ahead of local body elections, could create an impression among voters that development works are taking place only because of the Chief Minister’s intervention.
He said this could send a misleading political message that development would be possible only in local bodies where a particular party has a larger number of elected representatives. He argued that such an approach was inconsistent with the spirit of local self-governance.
Bolisetti, however, acknowledged that large-scale infrastructure projects and projects of statewide importance require financial support, coordination and involvement from the state government.
At the same time, he said local representatives should be given an appropriate role in projects dealing with everyday civic needs.
He specifically referred to works involving roads, drainage, drinking water supply, sanitation, street lighting and parks, saying elected mayors, corporators, chairpersons and councillors should be involved in planning and launching such projects.
Bolisetti said development works undertaken by municipalities should therefore be launched with the participation of elected representatives of the respective local bodies.
Such an approach, he said, would strengthen the objectives of the 74th Constitutional Amendment.
