BJP to fight for Seemandhra concerns
Nellore: BJP senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu said that his party would take a decision on supporting the bill concerning Telangana state in Parliament only after a detailed study.
Speaking to media here, Venkaiah Naidu said the BJP was committed to the formation of Telangana state and at the same time, it would fight for the concerns of Seemandhra people.
'We expect a clear picture on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill-2013 that will come in next two days. The BJP has given constructive suggestions to the government for the development of both regions following the bifurcation of the State, but it seems the Centre has not taken any one of our suggestions into consideration,' he said.
The BJP leader said he had given some suggestions during a meeting with Congress senior leaders Digvijay Singh and Ahmed Patel and Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, a member of Group of Ministers on Telangana, but the Centre did nothing, expect merging some villages of Khammam district with Andhra region under Polavaram project.
Stressing the need to address the concerns of Seemandhra people, Venkaiah Naidu said the Centre has not given a constitutional guarantee for lift irrigation projects like Galeru Nagari, Handri Neeva, Velugodu, Kalvakurthy and Eliminati Madhava Reddy which were constructed only depending on the Krishna river surplus water.
Highlighting the loopholes in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, Naidu said there is no clarity on the revenue deficit and pointed out that coastal Andhra currently has an Rs 684 crore surplus budget while Rayalaseema has an Rs 7,600 crore deficit budget.
Telangana, excluding Hyderabad, has an Rs 8,400 crore deficit budget while Hyderabad has an Rs 12,854 crore surplus budget.
'We have given constructive suggestions mainly on education, employment, jobs and establishment of industries in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. But the Centre has failed to take our party's suggestions into consideration and instead, is blaming the BJP for the delay in the creation of Telangana state,' he criticised.
Referring to the remarks of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is following 'poisonous ideology' that killed Mahatma Gandhi. Naidu said the Congress had no right to criticise the BJP and its ideology.
News Posted: 10 February, 2014
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