VIJAYAWADA: Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav on Friday hit back at former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy over his comments during a visit to Narsipatnam, accusing him of misleading the public about the construction of new government medical colleges.

Reacting strongly, the minister said Jagan’s claim that construction of the Parvathipuram Government Medical College was progressing was ‘a blatant lie,’ asserting that even land acquisition for the project had not been completed during the YSRCP regime.

Challenging the former CM, Yadav said, “If a fact-finding committee proves that land acquisition or construction has taken place, I will resign immediately. Otherwise, Jagan should apologise.”

He demanded an immediate response, stating that silence would amount to an admission of misleading the public.

Yadav also criticised Jagan’s remarks on the progress of medical colleges under the PPP model, accusing him of spreading misinformation.

“You can fool some people for some time, but not everyone forever,” he remarked.

The minister clarified that out of the `8,480 crore sanctioned for 17 government medical colleges, the previous government spent only ` 3,000 crore.

“Jagan spent merely `1,550 crore in four years, an average of `387 crore per year, yet he questions the current government’s expenditure,” Yadav said.

He further stated that Jagan had spent only `10.7 crore on the `500 crore Narsipatnam College project and ‘not a single rupee’ on Parvathipuram College, alleging that his visit exposed his neglect of Uttarandhra’s interests.