HYDERABAD: The Telugu Desam, its president N Chandrababu Naidu and his allies have suddenly changed their stand on irrigation projects after the first phase of elections so as to reap electoral benefit in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Laxmaiah has alleged.
Talking with reporters here today, he said the TDP was saying that after coming to power it would reviewing the irrigation projects for taking them up on a priority basis. ``The TDP leadership is against projects in the Telangana region and Chandrababu Naidu is talking of reviewing the projects. When the government started several irrigation projects after obtaining technical permissions from various departments why is the TDP leader talking of prioritising the projects? Are they not willing to continue the Pranahita- Chevella link project? ‘’ he wondered.
If the TDP leadership did not want to stall Telangana projects why was TRS president K Chandrasekhararao not invited to the Grand Alliance’s public meeting at Tirupati, he asked.
Referring to the TDP’s demand for a change in the design of the Polavaram project, the minister said the government finalised the design on the basis of the high-level technical expert committee’s report and there was no possibility of changing the design now.
About the chief minister’s controversial remark on settlers’ future in Telangana, Laxmaiah said settlers from other regions need not live like foreigners in Hyderabad in the event of Telangana becoming a state. He, however, defended Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s remark at a public meeting at Nandyal recently, saying he had only pointed to the statements of TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao.
``I support the cause of Telangana and I was one of the 41 legislators who signed the memorandum demanding separate state and sent it to the then government. However, I do not think that people from other regions would be forced to live like foreigners in a separate Telangana,’’ the minister added.