Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy will be meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Tuesday to discuss a host of issues, including the corona virus situation in AP, Vizag gas leak, row over appointment of new State Election Commissioner among others.
Jagan’s vist to New Delhi is first after nearly three months of complete lockdown. The meet assumes significance in the wake of several controversial decisions that the state government has taken in the recent times. It is learnt, that Amit Shah is likely to issues relating to removal of Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar and appointing Kanaga Raju as State Election Commissioner.
Further, Amit Shah is also likely to take up the Jagan governments controversial abolition of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council (APLC), a move initiated to weaken the TDP from effectively stalling any legislation decisions of the State government as the ruling YSRCP has only nine of the 58 seats in the council while the TDP has 28 member.
The Vizag gas leak tragedy that has left at least 13 dead and hundreds of people hospitalised is also likely to figure in the discussions with the Union Home Minister. Jagan is likely to thank the central government for helping the LG Polymers India Pvt Ltd (LGPI) in shifting the Styrene gas from its plant in Visakhapatnam to South Korea. It is a different matter that the Andhra Pradesh High Court had ordered not to allow shifting of LG Polymers assets and machinery, amid reports that the South Korean firm has shifted styrene gas from its premises. The court sought to know who had permitted the company to shift the styrene gas from its storage tanks at the factory in Visakhapatnam to South Korea after the gas leak pending probe.
Amit Shah is likely to discuss the Covid-19 situation in Andhra Pradesh and the measures initiated by the state government to contain the spread of Coronavirus in light of several relaxations that triggered a spurt in the number of cases.
Jagan’s meeting with Amit Shah comes after the Home Minister’s recent call to enquire about the coronavirus situation in Andhra Pradesh which reported 101 fresh cases on Monday taking the tally to 3,272 with 59 deaths so far. With Corona unabated, Amit Shah discussed the complete lockdown measures and the situation in the state following certain relaxations announced by the state government to revive the spiralling economy. Jagan is expected to meet several top officials. On his part, Jagan is likely to take up request the Modi government to extend stimulus measures for various sectors, particularly manufacturing, to overcome the economic distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic and consequent lockdown.
Recently, Jagan dashed off a 10-page letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting the contribution of different sectors to the state and the national economy and sought specific incentives to each of the sub-sectors, mainly the MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises).
