Vijayamma to stage dharna from Dec 4

Hyderabad, Dec 3 (INN): Upping its ante against the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal verdict, YSR Congress would launch dharnas in all the three regions demanding the State Government to move the Supreme Court to bring a stay against the decision and slammed the TDP for blaming YSR for the crisis and also sought an all party meet with irrigation experts to discuss the issue threadbare from the pre- independence days.

'We will undertake dharnas under the leadership of our Party Honarary President YS Vijayamma in all the three regions of the State to create awareness among people on the issue in chronological order.

On December 4, she will lead the protest at Pulichinthala project lying between Krishna and Guntur districts, on December 5 at Ghandikota project of Kadapa district and on December 6 at Jurala project in Mahbubnagar district,' party leaders Umareddy Venkateswarlu, Gattu Ramachandra Rao and Gurnath Reddy told reporters here on Tuesday.

As the verdict affects all the regions and the damage is of permanent in nature, the Party has decided to launch agitation in all the three regions of the State and farmers will join her along with party cadre with the demand to bring stay on the verdict as it will have far reaching consequences on the state.

Since the agitation is extensive to highlight the loss the state would suffer in the long run, we believe that there would be no resistance from any quarter and call upon everyone to join the dharna, they said.

We will also focus on the steps taken by each government on the issue and how it was dealt with by various political parties throughout, besides expressing protest against the verdict and demanding the Centre not to include it in the schedule, they said.

Hitting out at TDP for its slanted allegations against YSR blaming him for the Brijesh Kumar verdict, they said: 'it is meaningless to hurl allegations against each other on a daily basis.

What YSR has given was not an affidavit as claimed by the TDP but it is a letter and it was done in the better interests of the State. We will call irrigation experts from all the three regions and hold a meeting inviting all political parties and discuss the issue threadbare.

Before Brijesh Kumar Tribunal was set up, Maharashtra and Karnataka have approached the Supreme Court and it has given a verdict in 2000.The the irrigation minister Ponnal Laxmaiah has defended the State Government stand during the 2006 budget session and the subsequent session as well.

We shall study and discuss the position before Bachawat Award during the pre-independence era, the Bachawat Award and the Supreme Court decision in 2000 to clear the air instead of leveling baseless allegations, they said and asserted that YSR did not err in judgment and the present crisis is a result of Chandrababu Naidu not building any project during his term to utilise the Krishna waters.

Meanwhile, in a separate press conference, Tammineni Sitraram has said that the Tribunal verdict is a setback to the State. Bachawat in its clarifications has defined the rights of lower riparian state in terms of surplus waters. NTR has laid foundation stone for 11 irrigation projects.

Chandrababu Naidu, during his nine year term has allocated only Rs 9,000 crores for the projects started by NTR. This negligence has cost the state dearly and accusing YSR for it unfair, he said.

Supreme Court has given verdict in 2000 that Andhra Pradesh has no right on the surplus waters. This was when HD Deve Gowda was the Prime Minister and Naidu was the Chief Minister, he said.