Amaravati, November 2026 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday renewed his demand for the withdrawal of high-denomination currency notes, including Rs 500, arguing that retaining only Rs 100 and Rs 200 notes could help curb corruption and reduce the influence of cash in the economy.
Addressing a press conference, Naidu recalled that he had earlier submitted a report on digital currency to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in which he had recommended scrapping high-value currency notes. He said he intended to continue raising the issue.
“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,” the Chief Minister said.
He argued that limiting high-value cash transactions and encouraging digital payments could help tackle corruption. Emphasising the role of technology in economic development, he said, “If technology is perfect, wealth creation and poverty alleviation are not difficult.”
The Chief Minister also spoke at length about the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA) performance in Andhra Pradesh's local body elections, claiming that the results demonstrated growing public support for the alliance and reflected a reduction in the influence of money power in electoral politics.
Naidu said the alliance's victory represented public endorsement of good governance, social justice, new leadership and democratic values. He added that its vote share had increased compared with the 2024 general elections.
According to figures presented by the Chief Minister, the NDA secured a combined vote share of 58.9 per cent in urban local body and Parishad elections, up from 55.3 per cent in the 2024 elections. This represented an increase of 3.6 percentage points.
In contrast, the YSR Congress Party's (YSRCP) vote share declined from 39.81 per cent to 33.56 per cent, a fall of 6.25 percentage points. The difference between the alliance and the YSRCP stood at 25.34 percentage points in the combined results.
In urban local body elections, the NDA secured 59.9 per cent of the votes against 34.3 per cent for the YSRCP, recording a strike rate of 94 per cent, Naidu said.
In Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) elections, the alliance polled 57.6 per cent of the votes, compared with 39.7 per cent for the YSRCP. Its strike rate stood at 87.5 per cent. The vote-share gap between the two sides was 25.6 percentage points in urban areas and 17.9 percentage points in rural areas.
Naidu said the alliance won 575 of the 659 ZPTC seats across the state and secured a lead in 27 of the 28 districts. The YSRCP won more ZPTC seats than the alliance only in Alluri Sitarama Raju district and failed to win a single seat in seven districts.
In the Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) elections, the NDA secured 7,803 of the 9,818 seats. The Chief Minister also expressed confidence that the alliance would control around 90 per cent of Mandal President positions.
The alliance's performance extended to urban civic bodies, where it won 94 of the 100 Mayor and Chairperson positions. These included 12 of the 13 Mayor posts and 82 of the 87 Chairperson posts.
The TDP secured 70 of these positions, while the Jana Sena Party won 20 and the BJP four. The alliance also captured 3,233 of the 3,941 municipal wards, accounting for 82 per cent of the total.
Naidu said the NDA secured council majorities in 95 of the 100 urban local bodies and won all wards in 16 civic bodies. The YSRCP, by comparison, won only four urban local bodies and 558 wards. It failed to secure even a single ward in 22 urban local bodies.
The Chief Minister described the results as a decisive mandate for the NDA and said the alliance would continue to focus on governance and development.
