ANDHRA PRADESH CM PROPOSES FOR A CASHLESS ERA TO ELIMINATE BLACK MONEY

Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu said that he regretted that some legislators were misusing public mandate and looking for ways and means of earning money for the next elections. “Politics has become a shelter for corrupt people and black money earners. Some people who are in politics are misusing the people’s mandate,” he said, and in the same breath found fault with the people too, for voting to those who give them Rs.500/- or Rs. 1,000/- on election day unmindful of the welfare schemes implemented for their benefit by the government.

The Chief Minister was speaking at a press conference soon after inaugurating his office at the Interim Government Complex in Velagapudi. Referring to reports that an individual in Hyderabad had recently disclosed Rs 10,000 crore under the Centre’s Income Disclosure Scheme (IDS), he felt the man couldn’t obviously be a ‘businessman’. “Who is that, we can’t know as per law. Is it possible for a businessman to declare such huge money?” he wondered, leaving none in doubt who he was hinting at. He claimed that such people were making some legislators insecure and prompting them to look at money earning options to preserve their vote-banks.

Pointing out that the root-cause of the problem was black money, he reiterated his demand that I500 and I1,000 notes be withdrawn and observed that once these currency notes were abolished, it would put an end to buying of votes. “In course of time, we have to go for total bank accounts. We have to bring in that culture. One, you have to regulate and two, you have to bring in that culture. Then it will curb the evils,” Chandrababu said.