Adviser (Public Affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy has demanded that TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu should make his party stand clear on the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS).
Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy slammed Mr. Chandrababu Naidu for ‘supporting water usage for power generation by Telangana’, at a press meet here on Tuesday.
Responding to a letter written by Prakasam district TDP leaders to the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy recently against the RLIS, he said the opposition party was conspiring to create disputes among the three regions of the State. He criticised Mr. Naidu for filing cases in the NGT (National Green Tribunal) in ‘favour of Telangana’.
However, the government, he said, was working without compromising the interests of any area. While all the political parties had to be united in the fight on the Krishna water issue, Mr. Naidu had been playing cheap tactics for his political mileage, he said.
Denies charges
Refuting the allegations that panchayat bodies were being replaced by village and ward secretariats, he said it was Mr. Chandrababu Naidu who had crippled the panchayat system in Andhra Pradesh by introducing Janmabhoomi Committees. People were looted through the Janmabhoomi Committees, which were formed illegally, he said.
The YSRCP government had introduced a secretariat system to strengthen the panchayats and bring administration closer to people, he said.
Despite hailing from Rayalaseema Mr. Naidu was least bothered about the region and was concerned only about his political gains, Mr. Ramakrishna Reddy said.
The Veligonda project was initiated by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekara Reddy who had completed a majority of the works but it was later neglected during TDP tenure, he said.
He said Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy had completed the works of Veligonda Tunnel-1 on a war-footing and the works of Tunnel -2 would be completed by 2023 and water would be released to Prakasam district.
He also came down on the TDP for propagating ‘false information’ on laterite mining. “It was laterite and not bauxite mining,” he asserted.
