Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was in a combative mood in the Assembly on Thursday when Opposition members were speaking on the motion of thanks to the Governor’s address. Mr Rao intervened repeatedly to assert the government’s position on several issues.
The otherwise sedate proceedings for the last two days were somewhat enlivened on Thursday as Mr Rao sprang to his feet several times to reiterate the government’s position, though the discussions did not have an element of acrimony, which one could feel in earlier sessions of the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
Mr. Rao was very firm when he told Telugu Desam’s A. Revanth Reddy that the proceedings would go on whether someone is there or not. Mr. Reddy had earlier threatened to stall the proceedings if the government did not call for an all party meeting on Polavaram issue.
Earlier, when YSRCP legislator Thati Venkateshwarlu reminded that any decision on Polavaram would affect lakhs of tribals. Mr Rao was on his feet again saying it would have been better if the legislator had convinced his party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy on this issue to support the ruling party’s stand on Polavaram.
Mr. Rao did not lose an opportunity to tell the TDP members that if only their president N. Chandrababu Naidu too was convinced on the issue, more pressure could be mounted on the Centre. He recalled that Mr Naidu met the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 2, the day Telangana was born, over the issue of the ordinance on Polavaram Project. He had to call for a Telangana bandh, despite being a chief minister-designate. “That’s our commitment to the cause”, he quipped.
He cut short the TDP floor leader E. Dayakar Rao once to remind him that his government was committed to fulfil every promise made by his party in its manifesto. He also reminded the Opposition benches that the new government was only given 70 All India Service officers. It would take a fortnight or so for regular postings to be given.
