Balaraju flays Babu for remarks against CM

TD president making a mockery of his padayatra, says minister Visakhapatnam: Minister for Tribal Welfare P Balaraju took strong exception to the remarks being made by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu against the Congress with particular reference to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy during his padayatra. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said that the TDP president, out of frustration, has been misinterpreting the statements of Chief Minister on the implementation of the SC/ST Sub-Plan in the State and the power crisis. He said the Congress government passed the historic SC/ST Sub-Plan giving a statutory status and Andhra Pradesh was the first State to pass such a Bill in India, which would benefit more than two crore Dalits and Adivasis. The minister said Indira Gandhi had introduced the SC Sub-Plan in 1976 and the ST Sub-Plan in 1979 and the Congress government passed the legislation following a demand by the Dalit organisations. "Refusing to accept the benefits of the Bill, the TDP president called Kiran Kumar Reddy as 'Dalit Drohi'. Perhaps, realising that he would never come back to power, he made such remarks," Mr Balaraju said. He said Mr Naidu was also making a mockery of his padayatra. Claiming as 'hi-tech' Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, he has been asking his people to sprinkle water on the roads to avoid the heat wave which was draining his energy. When asked about the legality of allotment of Bayyaram mines to Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) and the objections being raised by experts, the minister said no law would be violated while issuing the GO on the mines. "We will respect the law and follow the due procedure since the mines are being given to a public sector steel plant," he said.