Rain played spoilsport at Union Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu’s public meeting here on Friday.
The meeting was intended to create awareness among people about the importance of the special package announced by the Central government to the State.
Mr. Venkaiah Naidu, who indicated that he would speak at length and asked the other dignitaries on the dais, including Ministers, to keep their messages short, was forced to withdraw his oration within half an hour as heavy rain lashed the city.
As the roof of the makeshift dais, which was made of cloth, failed to shield those on the dais from the downpour, the meeting ended abruptly and the elected representatives dispersed in no time.
Dig at Congress
Mr. Naidu, who began his address by criticising the Congress for dividing the unified State in a hasty manner, recalled how he had fought for protecting the rights of the residual State though he was not representing the State then in Parliament.
Making it clear that it was not possible for the Centre to provide Special Category Status to the State on technical grounds, he said that a package of Rs. 2.06 lakh crore had been announced by the Centre to the State, besides allocating a slew of higher educational institutions and industrial units.
“Some people are demanding that the Telugu Desam Party withdraw its support to the Centre. It is of no use, as the NDA government has been enjoying full strength in Parliament. If the TDP withdraws its support, it will only hamper the development of the State, but does not cause any harm to the Central government,” he said. Brushing aside the allegations against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that he had fears about a case, the Union Minister said that everyone was aware of those involved in a “good number of cases.”
Mr. Venkaiah Naidu further said that the financial benefit to the State because of the SCS would be only about Rs. 22,000 crore. But the special package envisaged a finance advantage that was 10 times more.
Even as he was explaining the salient features of the package, the downpour disrupted the public meeting.
