NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday renewed his call for withdrawing Rs 500 currency notes, arguing that limiting cash transactions to smaller denominations and encouraging digital payments could help curb corruption.Naidu said he had previously raised the proposal in a report on digital currency submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and intended to continue pressing for the change.“I will keep speaking on this. The notes of Rs 500, Rs 1,000 and Rs. 2,000 should be scrapped. Only notes of Rs 100 and Rs 200 should be retained,” he was quoted as saying by news agency IANS.Speaking at a press conference, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief argued that reducing the circulation of high-value currency would make it harder to use large amounts of cash for corrupt activities. He also stressed the importance of technology in improving economic opportunities.“If technology is perfect, wealth creation and poverty alleviation are not difficult,” he said.
Naidu claims NDA cut money power in local polls
Turning to the recent local body elections in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu said the results showed growing public support for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). He also claimed that the alliance had managed to reduce the influence of money power in the polls.According to figures shared by the chief minister, the NDA secured 58.9 per cent of the combined vote in urban local body and Parishad elections. This was 3.6 percentage points higher than the 55.3 per cent it received in the 2024 general elections.The YSR Congress Party’s (YSRCP) vote share, meanwhile, fell from 39.81 per cent in 2024 to 33.56 per cent in the local body polls, a decline of 6.25 percentage points. The gap between the two sides stood at 25.34 percentage points, Naidu said.He said the alliance’s vote share in urban local body elections was 59.9 per cent, compared with 34.3 per cent for the YSRCP. The NDA also recorded a strike rate of 94 per cent in urban areas.In Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) elections, the alliance polled 57.6 per cent of the votes against the YSRCP’s 39.7 per cent. The difference between their vote shares was 17.9 percentage points in rural areas.
NDA wins majority of ZPTC and MPTC seats
Naidu said the alliance won 575 of the 659 ZPTC seats across Andhra Pradesh, leading in 27 of the state’s 28 districts. The YSRCP managed to win more seats than the alliance only in Alluri Sitarama Raju district. It failed to secure even one ZPTC seat in seven districts.In Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) elections, the NDA won 7,803 of the 9,818 seats. The alliance is also expected to capture around 90 per cent of the Mandal President posts across the state.
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The chief minister said the alliance’s performance was equally strong in urban local bodies. Of the 100 Mayor and Chairperson posts, it won 94, including 12 of the 13 mayoral positions and 82 of the 87 chairperson posts.The TDP secured 70 of these posts, while the Jana Sena Party won 20 and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) four.The alliance also won 3,233 of the 3,941 municipal wards, accounting for 82 per cent of the total. It secured a majority in 95 of the 100 urban local bodies and won every ward in 16 of them.The YSRCP, by comparison, won only four urban local bodies and 558 wards. It failed to win a single ward in 22 urban local bodies, Naidu said.He described the results as a reflection of public backing for good governance, social justice, new leadership and democratic values, adding that the alliance’s support had increased significantly since the 2024 general elections.
