Amaravati, Dec 2 (ANS) Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh on Tuesday alleged that Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy splurged Rs 500 crore on a palace and Rs 222 crore on flying around during his tenure as the Chief Minister.

“While people struggled for jobs and amenities, their CM was splurging Rs 500 cr on a palace and Rs 222 cr on flying around. We’re finally hearing the truth,” the minister for education, information technology and electronics wrote on X.

“AP deserved a vision – they got a vacation instead,” added Lokesh, who is the son of Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu.

Lokesh was reacting to a report that Jagan spent Rs 222 crore on air travel in five years as the Chief Minister between 2019 and 2024.

The TDP on its official X handle highlighted how Jagan spent Rs 222 crore of public money on his flights while Lokesh did not take a single rupee from the treasury for his tours.

“In 18 months as a minister, Nara Lokesh did not take even a single rupee from the government for helicopters/special flights used for his tours. In 60 months as Chief Minister, Jagan spent Rs 222 crore from the government treasury for helicopters/special flights used for his tours,” posted the TDP.

According to replies to applications filed by an activist under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, Lokesh used his own money to finance his 77 flights to Hyderabad.

The TDP termed as ‘blatant lies’ the claims that Lokesh travelled to Hyderabad 77 times by a special aircraft during the last 18 months.

“None of these are personal trips, yet Minister Nara Lokesh funded these tours from his own pocket,” the TDP said in a post on X last week.

“It has been revealed through an application filed by an RTI activist that Minister Nara Lokesh has not taken even a single rupee from the Human Resources, IT, Electronics, and Real Time Governance departments, which he manages, for these tours,” it added.

The TDP also posted replies from the departments concerned to RTI queries by activist Kodamala Suresh Babu of Guntur district.

The TDP also hit back at YSRCP by highlighting how Jagan spent Rs 222 crore on his air travel.

According to Andhra Pradesh Aviation Corporation Ltd (APACL), the government spent Rs 222.85 crore on air travel between 2019 and 2024. The annual breakup includes Rs 31.43 crore in 2019-20, Rs 44 crore in 2020-21, Rs 49.45 crore in 2021-22, Rs 47.18 crore in 2022-23, and Rs 50.81 crore in 2023-24.

The data further reveals Rs 112.50 crore spent on fixed-wing aircraft, Rs 87.02 crore on helicopter charges, and Rs 23.31 crore on operational costs like crew and handling.

–IANS

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