The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has urged the Centre to appoint an expert committee to study the drought conditions in Rayalaseema. It also wanted the State government to submit a report on Rayalaseema to the Centre.
At a press conference here on Wednesday, BJP national executive member Somu Veera Raju said that the people were facing acute drinking water shortage in Rayalaseema even before the summer had set in. Fodder was not available and the people were migrating to Karnataka and Hyderabad. The government should give a special focus for the requirement of the region and ensure that steps were taken to meet drinking water and other immediate needs of the people to prevent migrations.
Stating that there was no firm policy on sand mining in the State, the BJP leader said the government was frequently amending the policy. As a result, middlemen were resorting to exorbitant hikes in sand prices bringing the construction activity to a grinding halt. He further said that the BJP had set a target of achieve ‘Congress Mukta AP’ (free from the Congress). Many Congress and YSR Congress leaders were in constant touch with BJP leadership and were likely to switch loyalties by this month end, he said.
He also evaded replies to a query whether former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC former president Botcha Satyanarayana were joining the BJP.
