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Special status: Venkaiah tears into critics of Modi
Union Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu took potshots at the critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had been maligning the later (sarcastically) by saying that \'PM Modi came to Amaravati and gave the people of AP matti (soil) and neeru (water) and nothing else,”\'
- Union Minister counters the argument of Cong and YSRCP that PM just gave “Neeru and Matti’ on the Amaravati foundation day
- Cites innumerable premier institutes worth thousands of crores sanctioned to AP besides assisting airports expansion
- Metro rail will adorn Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam
- Rayalaseema’s share of projects includes Kadapa airport development, a missile project at Anantapur besides a defence factory in Kurnool
Lam Farm (Guntur): Union Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu took potshots at the critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had been maligning the later (sarcastically) by saying that 'PM Modi came to Amaravati and gave the people of AP matti (soil) and neeru (water) and nothing else,”'. He used this opportunity to tear into criticism by the Opposition parties Congress and YSRCP in the State who have been aggressively campaigning against Modi-led NDA government.
Detailing the bonanza given to the State, he returned the sarcastic comments by saying 'is this neeru matti' which is similar to Mark Antony in the Julius Ceasar drama who kept repeating that 'Brutus is an honourable man'.
Venkaiah Naidu giving details of projects including multiple Central institutions to the State in 16 months including Indian Institute of Technology at Rs.700 crore, Indian Institute of Management at Rs 620 crore, Indian Sericulture Institute at Rs 870 crore, IIIT at Rs 150 crore and NIIT at Rs 300 crore and an Architecture Institute at Rs 200 crore.
Besides Dooradarshan Channel studio at Vijayawada, airports expansion at Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam and foundation stone laid by Prime Minister for international airport at Tirupati and airport development at Kadapa. Taking a dig at PCC chief N Raghuveera Reddy, Venkaiah Naidu said that all the goodies mentioned in the special package which were actually meant for over a 10 year period but the Prime Minister had given all these in a span of 16 months. “Is this Neeru and Matti, he asked.
The metro rail projects for Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada had not only been approved but tenders had been called for and these mega projects would be ready even before the construction of capital Amaravati. In December, foundation stone will be laid for the AIMS institute at Mangalagiri at Rs 1,600 crore and Rs 100 crore for development of every district will be given, he added.
Besides Rayalaseema districts were also given their due including the Rs 500 crore National Air Missile Range project, a petroleum complex at Visakhapatnam at Rs 600 crore, a circular railway for Guntur and Amaravati, Customs and Central Excise Academy and a BHEL missile project Rs 500 crore at Anantapur, a defence factory at Kurnool and a 500-bedded ESI hospital and dental hospital for the State. While Chennai and Hyderabad is connected to Amaravati through National Highways, Benguluru will shortly be connected by linking Anantapur to Amaravati, he added
In an indirect reference to YSRCP, he said '”They wanted TDP to walk out of Modi Cabinet and do what. If TDP gets out do they want to get in,” he demanded to know.
He made it clear that by saying that as an MP from Karnataka he has no obligation towards Andhra Pradesh but as a Telugu man I had taken upon the responsibility of getting everything due to it from the Centre as someone who had a role in demanding maximum benefits to AP at the time passing the AP Reorganisation Bill in the Parliament in 2014 during the UPA regime.
“I had never demanded votes from the people and I had never fought a direct electoral battle and neither will I nor my family members will contest an election and ask for votes. He took pains to explain to critics that as an MP from Karnataka he could not be faulted for what he had been doing and unable to do,”
He wanted the critics to respond if the long list of goodies given to the State in a span of 16 months and reminded all that the long list read out by him are some of the things initiated by the Prime Minister and not all and the whole thing is a BJP government bonanza to the people of AP.
