Hyderabad; Telangana state Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday called his counterpart and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu the “dirtiest politician of the country”.
He also called Telangana state Congress leaders “idiots” for alleging that Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were tampered with by the TRS and for neglecting reservations for Backward Classes in the panchayat elections.
Addressing a press conference at his camp office, Pragathi Bhavan, Mr Rao ridiculed Mr Naidu for his statement after the notification of the President constituting separate High Courts for AP and Telangana.
He said, “I never saw such a dirtiest politician like Mr Naidu in my political life. I am saluting the people of Andhra for bearing (up with) such an opportunist politician. Mr Naidu is known for his use and throw attitude. Mr Naidu sailed for four-and-a-half years with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and now changes his track and is sailing with Mr Rahul Gandhi.”
He said Mr Naidu’s defeat is inevitable in the 2019 elections and his party, the Telugu Desam, will face a debacle in the polls.
Mr Rao said that the High Court was not bifurcated overnight; it has been bifurcated almost 40 days after the AP government filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court assuring that it will make available the required infrastructure to run the court from Amaravati by December 2018.
He said that Mr Naidu and his government have failed to fulfil the assurance given to the top court of the country and is now blaming the Centre and that shows how opportunistic Mr Naidu is.
He called Mr Naidu “a liar”. He asked where the '1,500 crore given by the Centre for the construction of the High Court, Secretariat and Assembly, has gone.
“Why Mr Naidu is questioning me about my meeting with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik? Why is he concerned with my meeting with Mr Naveen?” Mr Rao wanted to know.
Referring to Mr Naidu’s claim that he built the Cyber Towers in Hyderabad, Mr Rao said, “I know the hard facts. The credit of Cyber Towers actually goes to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and the then chief minister N. Janardhan Reddy.”
He explained that in 1992 some IT giants met Rahul Gandhi and requested him to allow them to install their backup management and disaster management servers at Hyderabad which is a seismic-free zone and has climatic and topographical advantages. He said Rajiv. Gandhi had asked the AP chief minister to take advantage of the offer and make arrangements for the IT companies to settle in Hyderabad.
He said that Janardhan Reddy had laid the foundation for the Cyber Towers not Mr Naidu.
The Chief Minister also ridiculed Mr Naidu’s claim of using the Raft Foundation for the first time in India for constructing the AP Secretariat building at Amaravati.
“There are hundreds of buildings in Hyderabad which are constructed with the Raft Foundation. The Raft Foundation is used for very weak or expansive soils such as clay or peat. Mr Naidu is capable enough of bluffing the people with his blatant lies,” Mr Rao said.
He said the TRS never opposed the special status for AP; in fact, the MPs of the TRS demanded the special status for AP on the floor of the Rajya Sabha.
He said that it is Mr Naidu who changes his stand on the special status as per his “selfish goals”.
He said if necessary he will write to the Prime Minister requesting him to grant special status to AP.
He said he would play the Opposition’s role in AP if the Opposition fails to expose the misdeeds and corrupt practices of Mr Naidu.
Referring to the criticism of the Congress and the BJP that he has neglected the BCs, the Chief Minister reminded that the state government has made the Panchayat Raj Act providing 61.19 per cent reservation, including 34 per cent reservation to the BCs.
He said that Congress leaders challenged the Act for exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations and the High Court has stuck down the Act, and when the state government moved the Supreme Court, it upheld the decision of the High Court. He said that in another case, the High Court has directed the state government to complete the panchayat elections before January 10 and in view of the court orders they have no other option.
Citing the allegation of Congress leaders that the TRS has tampered with voting machines during the recent Assembly elections, Mr Rao questioned whether the Congress won in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh by tampering with EVMs.
“It is an idiotic and rubbish allegation and I will call the Congress leaders idiots for their idiotic allegations,” he declared.
