VIJAYAWADA: Telugu Desam Party chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday demanded that the YSR Congress government explain to people of Andhra Pradesh whether the central government has given any concrete assurance about releasing funds necessary for immediate completion of the state’s lifeline Polavaram irrigation project.
Addressing a press conference at the party's central office here after walking out from the assembly over the Polavaram project, Naidu wondered on what basis the YSRC government could install a 100-ft statue of Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy at the project site when it was being constructed with 100 per cent funds from the central government.
He accused Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan or being reckless in proposing to spend over Rs. 200 crore on the 100-feet statue of YSR. He alleged that the CM was only interested in the statue but not the actual project that has the potential to serve the long-term interests of the entire state.
The former chief minister asked the Jagan regime to specify by which time it will complete the remaining 30 per cent Polavaram works so that the project’s benefits could be passed on to farmers and general public in different parts of the State. He wanted the YSRC government to also come clean on the extent of land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement package it was going to give to project evacuees, including a timeframe for the same.
Naidu claimed that the government itself had admitted that 69.54 percent of dam works had been completed under the TD regime by 2019. He maintained that only the superstructure works were remaining.
The TDP chief accused the Chief Minister of failing to bring pressure on the central government for funds because of the cases pending against Jagan Mohan Reddy. Naidu said ruling YSRC leaders would go down in history as 'betrayers of AP people' if they caused any permanent harm to the state's lifeline and multi-purpose Polavaram project.
