Hyderabad, July 22: Asserting that their fight on the Babli irrigation project issue was in no way related to the July 27 by-elections, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said they would withdraw from the contest in all the 12 seats if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gets the construction work on the illegal Babli project stopped forthwith.
“If Chief Minister K Rosaiah secures a clear assurance from the Prime Minister on protecting the state’s interests, the TDP will have no hesitation in withdrawing from the by-election contest,” Chandrababu Naidu announced here today.
The TDP chief’s announcement assumes significance as the Congress and the separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti have been critical of his agitation against the Babhli project saying it was taken up only to benefit in the by-elections in 12 Assembly constituencies in Telangana region.
In fact, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan too criticised the TDP’s agitation on the issue saying it was purely political while his AP counterpart too made light of Chandrababu’s fight in a similar tone.
The TDP has first started its fight against Babli way back in January 2005 when the project works began. Since then it has been waging a political as well as legal battle against Babli and other illegal irrigation projects only to safeguard the interests of Andhra Pradesh.
The issue was raised several times in Parliament, state Assembly and also taken to the notice of the Central Water Commission. The TDP conducted an agitation in New Delhi on the issue besides meeting the Prime Minister, Naidu noted.
It conducted a train yatra to New Delhi twice demanding that the Union Government prevail upon Maharashtra to stop the illegal projects, he said.
“This is the life struggle of people from Telangana region. A staggering 18 lakh acres of agricultural land will turn into a desert if the illegal projects are completed on river Godavari by Maharashtra,” he said.
–PTI