All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi has said the party is committed to the welfare of the people of Andhra Pradesh and will continue to bring pressure on the Central Government to implement the provisions of the A.P. Reorganisation Act and the assurances given in the Rajya Sabha during the bifurcation of the State.
Mr. Gandhi, in a letter to APCC president N. Raghuveera Reddy, lauded the party workers and leaders in the State for organising the ‘maha padayatra’ and ‘satyagraha’ to demand speedy completion of the Polavaram multi-purpose project.
Saying that the programmes had a galvanising and motivating impact on the cadre, Mr. Gandhi appreciated the effort.
“The Polavaram project is a lifeline to the people of Andhra Pradesh and (its) early completion is essential for the well-being of the farmers,” Mr. Gandhi said in his letter.
The APCC had organised the padayatra along the banks of the Godavari from January 7 to 10, culminating in the ‘satyagraha’ at the project site.
‘Naidu failed’
In a separate statement, APCC vice-president N .Tulasi Reddy said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was using the Act as an excuse to cover-up his “incompetence.”
While it was true to say that Hyderabad developed when he was at the helm of affairs, it was false to say that residuary Andhra Pradesh suffered a loss because Hyderabad went to Telangana, he said. Mr. Naidu, who was going to town about the loss to A.P. because of Telangana getting Hyderabad, was not talking about the various benefits included in the Act to compensate for the loss of Hyderbad, Mr. Tulasi Reddy said.
Mr. Naidu failed to mount pressure on the Centre to implement the Reorganisation Act, Mr. Tulasi Reddy said.
