Anantpur: YSRC leaders have lashed out at Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu over failures to curb unlawfully-initiated irrigation projects by the Telananga state and the Centres failure to accord special category status to the state.
“The Pattiseema project is a mark of massive corruption during the Telugu Desam government. Naidu had encouraged ít for the sake of percentages,” YSRC MLA P. Ravindranath Reddy alleged, and observed that the CM had no guts to mount pressure either on the Centre or on the Telananga government on the state's demands.
YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's three-day Jaladeeksha against illicit irrigation projects by Telanagna continued on its second day at Kurnool on Tuesday.
A number of party activists and farmers from various parts of Rayalaseema and coastal areas visited the deeksha venue and expressed support to the leader of the Opposition. Party MLAs had targeted Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu over his alleged failures in the last two years.
Participating in a protest against the construction of some projects over the Krishna river, MLA Roja blamed Mr Naidu for the drought-like conditions in Andhra Pradesh.
"If drought wore a pair of pants and a shirt, it would look like Chandrababu Naidu," she said. She blamed Chandrababu for the nine years of drought in united Andhra Pradesh and the drought for the past two years in AP. “Drought followed Chandrababu wherever he went”, she said.
Ms Roja also alleged that the CM was misusing funds that his government released in the name of drought. “The Rs 39 crore that was released for drought was being used for buttermilk that was being sourced from his own Heritage Foods,” she alleged
“While the chief ministers of other states are after the prime minister for drought funds for their states, Naidu was busy having a pleasure trip along with his family in Switzerland," she said.
Ms Roja said while AP needed over Rs 4,000 crore to tackle the drought, he was not even able to get Rs 400 crore. YSRC leaders questioned the CM over his continued silence over the TS projects, and said not a drop of water will remain for Rayalaseema after Telangana retained 115 TMC ft of water in Palamuru-Ranga Reddy and Dindi Ethipothala projects.
Ms Roja accused the TD government of giving up on the special status demand for AP from the Centre, and turning a blind eye to Telangana's projects that could make Rayalaseema run dry.
Mr Naidu was doing this only to save himself from the cash-for-vote scam, she alleged.
