Hyderabad, November 10: TD chief skirts CM’s challenge on assets evades TeluguDesam chief N Chandrababu Naidu today hit out at chief minister K Rosaiah for daring him to agree to an inquiry into the assets he possessed saying that the chief minister should first think of ordering an inquiry into scams that had rocked the state like the Emaar, Raheja and the operations of the mining mafia.
Reacting sharply to Rosaiah’s broadside against him at a news conference here, the TDP chief said that after the Congress came to power in the state in 2004, it had ordered 23 inquiries against him but could not come up with any evidence to prove that he was guilty on any issue. “If you want to order another inquiry, it is OK with me, but before doing that let the state government go in for CBI probe into the EMAAR and Raheja scams,’’ he said.
The former chief minister took objection to Rosaiah saying that he had no status to criticise him or Rahul Gandhi.
“It is unfortunate that Rosaiah should talk about my status.
He knows fully well that I am opposition leader in the Assembly and that I was the chief minister of the state for nine long years,” he said and averred that Rosaiah was trying to escape from the questions that he had shot at him by questioning his status and station, Naidu said.
Naidu justified his stand of demanding that Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi visit the state to see for themselves the depths of quagmire of corruption into which it had had sunk. “Rahul Gandhi compliments the Congress for fighting against the mining mafia in Karnataka but does not find fault with the Congress leaders here who are working hand in glove with the mafia,” Naidu said and wanted to know why KVP Ramachandra Rao was being continued as the adviser to the state government though all scams invariably led to him. Naidu said he had not belittled the chief minister’s caste and that he had a great regard for the section of society he belonged to. “I do not have any personal enmity with Rosaiah. But as he is the chief minister, I am forced to ask him questions on why the state government had failed to rise to the expectations of the people affected by the recent rains and cyclone. He said it was unfortunate that Rosaiah should dig into the past to criticise him.
Naidu reiterated that US president Obama did not come to the state because the situation here was not conducive.
With the visit of Bill Clinton during his days, the state had acquired an image but since the state did not have any image now, Obama did not care to come here, he said.
–Agencies