VIJAYAWADA: Lashing out at TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu for his demand that YSRC MPs resign to get Rehabilitation and Resettlement package for the displaced families of the Polavaram project from the Centre, YSRC leaders Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy and former minister Kodali Sri Venkateswara Rao (Nani) said Naidu has no moral right to make such a demand.
“What happened to him when we asked him to come out from the NDA government to bring pressure for getting Special Category Status to the state?” questioned Sajjala. When the pressure could have been brought on the Centre, the TDP which was part of the NDA government, did not consider the State’s interests, he remarked.
Speaking to media persons in Guntur on Friday, Sajjala said Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy clearly explained the need for the total assistance from the Centre for completing the Polavarm Irrigation Project. “He also explained at what extent the State could bear the project cost. A sum of Rs 20,000 crore for R&R of the project displaced is a huge amount. We can bear the expenses up to 41.5 feet contour and the remaining should be borne by the Centre,” he said.
The Chief Minister took a daring step to bear the cost of the R&R in advance up to 41.5 feet contour in view of the R&R package being more than the project cost and get it reimbursed from the Centre in the next two-three years, he said.
With resignation, if Naidu wants to mould the public opinion, he can first ask his 23 MLAs to resign. The people have given YSRC five-year mandate. The Chief Minister has a clear understanding as to what needs to be done for the people’s welfare and State’s development. “We are taking informed decisions as to what needs to be done in best interests of the State,” he asserted.
Elaborating further on the Polavaram issue, he said no new dam is filled 100% soon after the project execution. It is only filled to the level the project is constructed. The R&R package is implemented to that level and people from the submerged region are shifted. In the subsequent phases, others can be shifted and all this is done in a programmatic manner,” he said. “On one hand the project should be completed and the other budget assistance should also be received. Both should happen in a parallel manner,” he explained.
Sajjala said people had rejected Naidu and relegated him to the dustbin. “I am only explaining this, so people can understand,” he said. Asked about film producer Ashwini Dutt’s comments that the government was destroying Tirumala, the YSRC leader said he is not aware of who is he and as he is said to be a TDP sympathiser he might have spoken in such a manner. As the TDP chief is issuing different statements everyday to create a tempo and this too might be one such statement, he remarked.
Meanwhile, Kodali Nani described Naidu as the most cowardly politician, who is afraid of elections. “Why don’t he ask his own MLAs and MPs to resign for the State’s cause?” he questioned.