Chandrababu Naidu calls for BJP-mukt AP

Also attacks Jagan, Pawan for cosying up to Modi

Turakalapatnam (Anantapur): Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has lambasted the BJP and the YSRCP for working hand in glove to undermine the interests of the state. He also came down heavily on Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, once an ally of the TDP, for turning against him now.

Addressing a well-attended public meeting here on Monday, the Chief Minister wanted to know whether it was fair for a person no less than the Prime Minister to go back on his promise of SCS which he made to the people of AP at a joint public meeting at Tirupati during 2014 election campaigning.

Naidu said PM’s volte-face on SCS smacked off nature of betrayal. He singled out AP, while giving all the benefits of SCS to 11 other northern and north eastern states. He made an impassioned plea to Telugu people to drive the BJP out from the state as well as at the Centre in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Naidu said that with no support from the Centre, he struggled on his own to achieve double digit growth and made sure that he had made state stand on top in the development index.

He reiterated that he would fight against the Centre until all the provisions of the AP Reorganization Act are implemented and the SCS is granted to the state. He pledged to complete the Polavaram project at any cost and bring prosperity to the state on the agriculture and industrial front.

The Chief Minister who arrived by a special flight from Puttaparthi and reached Turakalapatnam village tank in Roddam mandal at around 1 pm performed 'Jala Harati' after releasing Krishna waters into the tank. He later reached the Turakalapatnam village and interacted with residents of the SC colony. He laid the foundation stone for Cement Concrete (CC) roads in the village. He also launched desiltation works at the village tank.

Addressing the people at the village, Naidu trained his guns at the Jana Sena Party chief for accusing the TDP of indulging in corruption. He said he did not understand how one who praised the TDP government sky high till recently could take complete U-turn and make allegations of corruption against it. He accused both Pawan Kalyan and Jaganmohan Reddy of colluding with the BJP and supporting the BJP in Karnataka elections.

Referring to the development works already initiated, he said that Rs10,000 crore would be spent on completing irrigation projects in the district. He claimed for himself the total credit for bringing 145 tmcft of Krishna water to the Rayalaseema districts.

Despite post bifurcation challenges, Naidu said he did not go back on any of the promises made to the people of AP. He said that he brought Krishna water to the Gollapalle reservoir and was responsible for bringing Kia Motors to Penukonda.

He said that he had made Anantapur district the hub of non-conventional energy by roping in tens of solar and wind power projects. He reiterated his promise that he will not increase power tariff even in future. He claimed to be the sole champion of fighting for the SCS and against the Centre.

He said that due to the denial of SCS to AP, it would take another 10 years for him to develop the state for it to be on par with other states. Naidu accused the YSRCP of exerting pressure on the BJP government to foist cases against him.

He said that he was not afraid of BJP’s conspiracy to create trouble for him and vowed to fight what he called the fascist tendencies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Information and Rural Housing minister K Sreenivasulu, Penukonda MLA B K Parthasaradhi and Woman and Child Welfare Minister Paritala Sunitha were among those who spoke.

By Ravi P Benjamin