HYDERABAD: Finance minister T. Harish Rao on Saturday said the arrest of former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu was unfortunate. “It is not correct to arrest him at his age. This is unfortunate,” he said at a meeting in Siddipet after laying the foundation stone for an oil palm factory in Siddipet district.
Harish Rao said Naidu used to stay focused on the IT sector but had not now recognized the progress in Telangana under Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. “There was a time when he said if one acre is sold in Andhra Pradesh, ten could be brought in Telangana. He recently changed his stance and said that if one acre is sold in Telangana, 100 acres can be bought in Andhra Pradesh. This is the measure of change that has come in Telangana under KCR’s rule,” he said.
Addressing the meeting at Narmetta in the district, Harish Rao said if that Telangana had not been formed, the Rs 300-crore oil palm factory would not have happened. “Farmers will be trained on how to grow the plants and benefit from it. Farmers are facing losses growing traditional crops and it is time to adopt crops like oil palm that can ensure a regular monthly income, he said.
“While such developments have taken place after the formation of the state, there are still some who keep asking what Telangana has achieved. We built the Kaleshwaram project, built several reservoirs including Ranganayakasagar, Konda Pochammasagar, Mallannasagar, Gouravelli reservoir.”
“It is KCR who turned the Jai Jawan Jai Kisan slogan into a reality when governments led by Congress in the past only pushed farmers into suicides,” he said.
Harish Rao said during Congress rule there was no knowing when power would be supplied, now we have 24-hour supply powering 24 lakh agricultural pumpsets. During the rule of Naidu, and Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy, the state used to experience repeated droughts. “Now they have become a thing of the past. Farmers will have to decide if they want Congress which says three hour supply is enough for them, or whether they want BRS government which provides 24 hour free power.”
