Minister for Irrigation and Water Resources Anil Kumar Yadav came down heavily on TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu stating that he was trying to create a rift among the regions for his political gains.
Speaking to the media at the party central office here on Monday, the Minister said the TDP leaders of Prakasam district had written a letter to drop the proposal to increase the capacity of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) at Srisailam from 44,000 cusecs to 80,000 cusecs only to create a divide among the people of different regions.
The Minister said the State government under the leadership of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had completed the works of Veligonda Tunnel-1 on a war-footing and the works of Tunnel -2 would be completed by 2023 and water would be released to Prakasam district. “What has Mr. Naidu done for the development of the region during his tenure?” he asked.
Terming TDP as ‘Telangana Desam Party’, the Minister said TDP leaders were echoing Telangana leaders’ version and Mr. Naidu had been following a dual policy on the Krishna water issue. He said the Telangana government had constructed illegal irrigation projects during Naidu’s government but he didn’t object to them as a compromise over cash-for-vote case.
He listed out the irrigation infrastructure developed by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy in combined Andhra Pradesh and said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had gone a step ahead in completing the irrigation projects across the State. He said while all the political parties in Telangana came under one roof on the Krishna water issue, Mr. Naidu in Andhra Pradesh had been playing cheap tactics for his political gains.
False propaganda
The Minister also slammed the TDP for propagating false information on laterite mining and asserted that it was laterite and not bauxite mining. He said bauxite mining took place during the TDP government. Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had not allowed bauxite mining after coming to power, he added.
