Hyderabad, July 22: Strongly objecting to the language used by the TDP Chief, Mr N Chandrababu Naidu, and the party leader, Dr Nagam Janardhan Reddy, against the Chief Minister, Mr K Rosaiah, the Group of Ministers on Thursday demanded that Mr Chandrababu Naidu tender an apology to the Telugu community for degrading their value with their questionable “actions and words”.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr N Raghuveera Reddy, the Minister for Panchayat Raj, Mr Botsa Satyanarayana, the Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Mr Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, the Minister for Minor Irrigation, Ms Sunitha Laxma Reddy, and the Minister for Rural Water Supply, Mr P Viswaroop, held a joint media conference in the Secretariat to rebut the allegations made by TDP leaders against the Chief Minister. The visual of the press conferences of Mr Naidu and Dr Janardhan Reddy, in which harsh language was used against the Chief Minister, was shown to mediapersons.
Mr Raghuveera Reddy has alleged that Mr Naidu has enacted a drama of “bus yatra to Babli project’ to get political mileage in the by-elections to 12 Assembly segments in Telangana region. He strongly objected to the statement made by Mr Naidu that “Mr Rosaiah needs same treatment, which they have tasted in Maharashtra i.e. kicks with police boots”. He termed the ‘language’ of the TDP chief as ‘intolerable and unforgivable’. The news channels; barring one Telugu channel, did not telecast it by showing discretion, he reminded. “Every Telugu person was bowing his head with the behavior of Mr Naidu, which was like degrading their self-respect”, he alleged.
Reminding that the Chief Minister was leading all- party delegation to Delhi on July 26 on Babli issue, the Minister asked the TDP to make an effort in democratic fashion to safeguard the interests of the State in Babli issue. He asked what prompted the TDP leader to launch bus yatra to Babli even after the Chief Minister secured an appointment with the Prime Minister to lead an all-party delegation on Babli issue.
Alleging that Mr Naidu was keen on getting political mileage than to protect the interests of the State, the Minister reminded that Mr Naidu, in his capacity as Chief Minister has made a call to his party workers in 1998 to stage dharnas in front of the MRO Offices against Almatti project. “Why did Mr Naidu, who claimed himself as a king-maker, fail to use his influence at the Centre on the matter”, he questioned.
The Minister opined that if Mr Naidu was sincere on Babli issue, he should have requested Mr Rosaiah to ask Maharashtra government to permit the Telugu Desam leaders to visit the Babli project site. “Will Mr Naidu own responsibility if any harm was caused to the security of Telugu people living in Maharashtra at this juncture? Mr Naidu should introspect whether his actions brought or damaged the self-respect of Telugu people”, he asked.
Ms Sunitha Laxma Reddy alleged that with the actions of the TDP leaders, again a controversy was shrouded on the Salura lift irrigation project in Nizamabad district. She said that foundation was laid to the Rs 33.81-crore Salura project in 2004 to irrigate 1,620 acres. When the Maharashtra government raised an objection over the project in 2005, the Collectors of Nizamabad and Nanded held discussions and settled the matter after finding that the project area was completely in territorial jurisdiction of Andhra Pradesh and the project work began in 2006. However, with the recent developments on the Babli project, the Shiv Sena activists planned a march to the Salura project. The Maharashtra police arrested the Shiv Sena activists and the situation remained peaceful, she added.
Mr Botsa Satyanarayana also strongly condemned the comments made by Shiv Sena supremo, Mr Bal Thackery against Mr Chandrababu Naidu. He also advised Mr Naidu to mind his position and the prevailing situation while making allegations against the Chief Minister. It would be clear in two or three days whether the TDP would join the all-party delegation to Delhi on Babli issue, he added.
—NSS—