HYDERABAD: Calling upon the people not to allow Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to campaign in Telangana, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has said: “They oppose our projects and seek our votes. If Naidu is so sincere, he should withdraw the letter he wrote against our irrigation projects before campaigning in Telangana,” Rao demanded.
Addressing an election meeting at Palair in Khammam district on Monday, Rao asked Naidu to explain and withdraw his letters he wrote to the Centre seeking cancellation of Sri Sitarama Lift Irrigation project, which is a lifeline for the district, before entering Khammam for campaigning.
‘‘If he comes to the district and ask for votes, you should ask him why he wrote the letter to stop the project,’’ Rao told the voters.
Continuing his tirade, Rao said that Naidu took seven mandals of Telangana to his state with an ‘illegal Government Order’. He also recalled how at least two lakh people were displaced by Andhra’s Polavaram project under Naidu’s reign.
Rao asked the people in Khammam not to ‘poke their eyes with their own fingers’ and reject TDP and Congress that are intent on turning the clock back on development that the district witnessed in the past four years under TRS rule in the State.
“Voting for Congress and TDP is nothing but poking your eyes with your own fingers,” Rao said.
While listing out his party’s welfare and development schemes, Rao said : “Telangana is number one in welfare sector. We are spending Rs 43,000 crore on welfare every year. The growth in State’s Own Tax Revenue (SOTR) stood at 17.17 per cent, which is number one in the country. This is possible, as the TRS government never indulged in corruption or scams,” the TRS president said.
He cautioned the voters not to fall prey for enticements like caste, money and others the opposition parties will try to take advantage and exploit them.