Centre ganging up with YSRC to file cases against me, alleges Chandrababu Naidu

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu has sought to know whether the Centre has joined hands with the YSRC leaders to file cases against him, his son and IT Minister Nara Lokesh and other ministers. “Though Lokesh is my son, I will not allow   him to interfere in the administration,” he said.

During a teleconference with party MPs, MLAs and MLCs on Thursday, the Chief Minister, referring to the statements of YSRC Rajya Sabha MP V Vijay Sai Reddy that he would continue to meet Prime Minister until Naidu was dragged to the court, he said it clearly showed the conspiracy being hatched against the TDP.

When State Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu pointed out that YSRC and BJP were demanding a CBI probe against him, Naidu observed that he had never committed a mistake and there was no need for him to fear as his life was an open book.

“The party is more interested in taking vindictive action against me than focusing on protecting the interests of the State and its people. How can the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) allow  entry to persons who were involved in corruption cases?’’ Naidu questioned in the AP Legislative Council and sought to know what signals the Centre was sending by doing so.

BJP MLC Madhav objected to the statement of the Chief Minister and said, “What is wrong with the Prime Minister meeting MPs?”

Naidu replied that there were instances of booking cases against the CBI director after an accused meeting him.

Maintaining that the TDP had served the notice for no-trust motion against the Modi government as the last resort as the Centre had failed to fulfil the provisions of the AP State Reorganisation Act, he said, instead of correcting its course, the BJPO government was launching a counterattack against his party.

“What is wrong with me? What I asked you (Centre) for is all there in the AP State Reorganisation Act and the assurances were made on the floor of the Rajya Sabha by the then prime minister. I am not asking you anything more than that. Instead of resolving the issues, the BJP leaders are resorting to counterattack. Is it the spirit of cooperative federalism,’’ the Chief Minister questioned.

Stating that his government had no role in changing the contractor of the Polavaram project, Naidu said in both the Houses that the decision to replace the contractor was taken by the Union Water Resources Ministry.

“As the earlier contractor had failed in executing the works in time, he was replaced. No fresh tenders were called for appointing a new contractor and works were awarded to the new agency as per the old rates,’’ Naidu said adding that the management of Navayuga even said that they had not taken up the project for profits but because it was a prestigious project.

Asserting that his government would complete the Polavaram project by 2019 if the Centre extended the required financial resources, he cautioned that the BJP should be ready to face the wrath of AP people in case it neglected the project due to their strained relations with TDP.

Alleging that the Opposition parties were conspiring to stall the Polavaram project, he came down heavily on BJP, YSRC and Pawan Kalyan for criticising him in executing the Polavaram project.
Stating that the government was maintaining transparency in Polavaram project works and making all information available online, he said that the BJP, YSRC and Pawan Kalyan had colluded and making allegations against him.

When the Chief Minister said that it was the bounden duty of the Centre to bear the expenditure of land acquisition and R&R, BJP leader Madhav said that the Centre was ready to extend complete funding for completion of the project.

Appalled to hear BJP leaders in the Legislative Council say that bifurcation is a good decision when it has struck a blow to AP. And, theyw’re accusing the TDP of instigating people against the Centre. When the Centre is not responding to our repeated requests for financial assistance, what are we supposed to do? Keep quiet about an issue concerning the lives of 5 crore people? It’s the people we care about, not the petty politics Lokesh