AP CM Vows to Complete All Irrigation Projects, Ensure Water to All

Vijayawada:Telugu Desam president and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has vowed to complete all the irrigation projects including Polavaram in a time-bound manner to ensure water for every acre of land in the state, and to “offer Jala Harathi to Telugu Thalli.”

Addressing the party leaders on the first day of the TDP’s Leadership Conclave at the party headquarters a Mangalagiri in Guntur district on Monday, Naidu said his life’s ambition was fulfilled when he inaugurated the first phase of Veligonda project by releasing the Krishna water. He could see “the tears of joy from the eyes of the people.”

However, Naidu wanted the people to be on high alert to withstand the effect of El Niño and felt the need to bring about awareness on this among the farmers at the micro level.

Underlining the need to ensure mass participation in every programme, he said this has happened in respect of the inauguration of the Alluri Sitarama Raju International Airport at Bhogapuram, the Veligonda irrigation project-1 and the Polavaram Left Main Canal.

Naidu called upon the public representatives to work efficiently in order to resolve the issues and said

that those who were working well in the party at the field level would be rewarded with posts. The party leadership was accommodating them even in the party politburo or making them MLAs and MLCs.

He exhorted partymen not to get involved in disputes over photos and flex banners and work together at the field level.

Naidu was critical of the previous (YSR Congress) government, which “put the state on the ventilator”, and slammed it for “destroying the systems” in the state. He described former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy as a case study – of how not to be a ruler.

Referring to the continuous support from the central government, he said the state was balancing both development and welfare to ensure good governance.

The CM said, “I have been moving around for a minimum of four days a month and interacting with the people by promoting programmes like Pedala Sevalo, Mee Bhoomi-Mee Hakku, Swachha Andhra-Swarna Andhra and Sanjeevini.” Students pursuing education in private schools were joining the government schools these days, he said.

He noted that so far, the government had distributed `73,000 crore in pensions to 63 lakh persons through schemes like Thalliki Vandanam, Annadata Sukhibhava, Anna Canteens etc.

“We held teacher recruitment through Mega DSC-2025,” Naidu said and faulted former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for alleging anomalies in it even though he had failed to conduct even a single DSC to recruit teachers during his five-years’ rule.

Naidu said, “We are coming up with plans to develop three regions in the state,” and sounded confident of completing the Polavaram irrigation project and developing the capital city of Amaravati in a time-bound manner. So far, `23 lakh crore worth investments could be attracted to the state since 2024, through 23 policies, he claimed.

Referring to the launch of ASR International Airport at Bhogapuram and setting up of major industries like Google, ArcelorMittal, he said the north Andhra region had become a centre for development.

The CM said, “Amaravti would become a hub for knowledge and quantum technology.” He cited the development of Rayalaseema by taking up mining of a gold field, the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft defence project, the Kadapa Steel Plant and others.

Naidu directed the party leaders to give a strong rebuttal to the “fake” campaigns being taken up by the opposition YSR Congress party and observed that it was adopting the policy of ‘Hit-Run-Hide’. TS leaders and activists should use social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram etc to counter such criticism, he said.