Naidu not critical of BRS, avoids reference to KCR

Khammam: Telugu Desam president Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said his party is intact and the voters and cadre are sailing with the party in Telangana. Naidu indicated his party would be contesting the next assembly elections. “Telugu Desam has a moral right to seek votes in Telangana and the presence of the party here is a need of the hour,” he told a massive TD rally here.

The large gathering, he said, was an answer to the question of TD opponents, “Where is TD in Telangana?”

“Though the TD did not have an MLA, MLC and MP in Telangana, the people extended their blessing to the party by this good gathering. The two MLAs, who won from the party, had left it”, Naidu noted, adding that he would take the responsibility of strengthening the party again in Telangana.

In his 53-minute speech, Naidu was not critical of the TRS government and avoided any direct reference to the policies of KCR. He however said Andhra Pradesh witnessed ‘Vidwansame Vidwasam’ (destruction) and there was a need to set things right there.

The TD leader recalled his policies and projects that were taken up during when he was chief minister, which all led to the development of Hyderabad and the region now known as Telangana. He did not tour Telangana recently due to some reasons, he said, and added that he would be in touch with the people of TS from now on.

The TD leader listed out the projects that he brought to the undivided Andhra Pradesh that led to massive development. “I asked Microsoft head Bill Gates to give me an appointment when he visited Hyderabad. Gates rejected this by saying he was not interested in meeting politicians. Finally, he agreed to give time and I made a presentation on the talent of Indian students,” he said.

The TD president said that during the recent G-20 briefing Prime Minister Modi held in New Delhi, he urged the PM to make a ‘vision report’ on India for the occasion of 100 years of Independence in 2047. There is a chance for India to take the second place in the world, in terms of economy, if the country makes proper use of the services of its youth, he said.

Naidu claimed that Covid-19 vaccine was produced in Hyderabad because of the setting up of the Genomes institute by his government. He listed out the companies that came up during his rule, including the Madhapur Hitech, ISB, airport, and ORR.

He said he had given a report to the Union telecommunications ministry urging it to give impetus to the cell phone system and presented another report to the PM on giving priority to IT industries in the country.

“Engineering colleges were increased to 250 from 25 and this led to producing a large number of software engineers. “Indian professionals are earning good salaries abroad and my effort 25 years back has paid dividends,” he said, adding that he had stressed the need for the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system in national highway construction during a meeting with the central government.