AP CM: CAG reports not scriptures; must not be taken seriously

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy today said reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) were not scriptures and they could not be taken seriously.
Intervening in a short-duration discussion on the power crisis in the AP state legislative assembly today, the chief minister remarked that CAG observations are not "Bhagvad Gita, Quran or Bible", while opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) alleged that the chief minister was seeking to undermine a constitutional body.
The AP CM refuted the TDP's allegation and maintained that he had not tried to undermine the CAG.
"The CAG will do its constitutional duty. As long as the Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Public Enterprises don't analyse CAG observations, we can't take them seriously," the AP CM said.

He was reacting to senior TDP MLA Payyavula Keshav's reference to the CAG report which pointed that the government incurred 50 per cent excess cost on power plants as compared to the Government of India's projects and his demand that the AP CM must order an inquiry into the matter.
Keshav also referred to allegations by Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president and State Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana about the import of substandard coal from abroad that caused a huge loss to the exchequer.
The PCC chief had submitted a report to the Congress high command against the chief minister on the issue, Keshav said.

"Neither the PCC chief nor the government denied this. So, we demand an explanation from the chief minister on the issue," Keshav said.