Irrigation Minister P. Anil Kumar Yadav took a dig at Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and its national General Secretary Nara Lokesh for keeping away from the State and instead taking to virtual platform for political discourse during the lockdown.

Addressing the media here on Sunday, he said he was perplexed as to why the TDP chief and his son locked themselves down in their home in Hyderabad when lakhs of people were migrating from one place to another, and indulging in mudslinging over web-based video-conferencing platforms.

“Will the TDP chief not return to the State till a vaccine is found for COVID-19?” he sarcastically asked, adding that the septuagenarian leader could be exempted in view of his advancing age.

“But what happened to Mr. Lokesh? Does he not have immunity?” asked the Minister who took objection to the alleged ‘politically-motivated’ criticism of the Jagan Mohan Reddy government by the TDP on Zoom platform.

The Minister also wanted the TDP, which had decided to hold its annual conference Mahanadu via Zoom app, to make its stand on the State government’s decision to enhance the water carrying capacity of the Pothireddypadu head regulator to benefit farmers in Rayalaseema and Nellore. The TDP had neglected the implementation of the Polavaram project when it was in power, he charged.