The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on Sunday said it would lead the fight for the rights of the lower riparian States in sharing of river waters, and rejected the charge that its campaign against Babli project was linked to by-elections in Andhra Pradesh.
Ahead of a meeting of an all-party delegation from the State with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu charged the Union government with not safeguarding the interests of the State even after the award of the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal, orders of the Central Water Commission and an agreement between the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh of not going ahead with the construction of Babli and 13 other “illegal projects.''
The Maharashtra government did not follow the interim order of the Supreme Court against 13 proposed gates, he said at a press conference here.
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While advocating a national debate on the rights of the lower riparian States, he said the TDP would launch a campaign against the upper riparian States impinging on these rights and to ensure peaceful co-existence of all States.