Harish makes light of Kutami

​Hyderabad: Terming Mahakutami, led by Telugu Desam, as unethical, Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao on Thursday said that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu seeking votes in Telangana was like a “thief asking for keys”.

The Minister wrote an open letter to Naidu demanding an explanation on what basis Mahakutami led by his party was seeking votes in Telangana when his party had conspired against the irrigation projects in Telangana. Addressing a press conference here at Telangana Bhavan, Harish said that TD had no moral right to contest elections in Telangana with its anti-Telangana stand. The TRS leader listed out 19 'conspiracies' of Naidu against the people of Telangana.

The Minister alleged that Naidu seeking votes in Telangana was like a thief asking for keys of a house. He said that Chandrababu Naidu has written several letters to the Centre demanding stopping of projects of Telangana by calling them illegal. “The TDP chief wrote letters to the Centre stating that the projects like Palamuru Rangareddy and others as illegal and now he is seeking votes from the same people, which is unethical,” said Harish Rao. Earlier, Naidu promised to construct Palamuru Rangareddy project in his party’s manifesto and also made Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make this announcement during the campaign in 2014 elections, Harish recalled. 

The TRS leader also added that the TDP leader denied power allocated to Telangana even after knowing that there was severe power crisis in Telangana, when it was formed. “The AP Chief Minister knew well that people of Telangana would suffer without power but still he denied justifiable rights to people of Telangana. He wanted to see industries in the State move away and crops of the farmers dry down,” said Harish Rao. The Andhra Pradesh government denied the share of power to Telangana stating that there was shortage of power in their State. But later, participated in an open tender offering to sell power to Telangana, said Harish Rao.

“Chandrababu has no moral right to seek votes without expressing regret for his anti-Telangana stand. We have responsibility to caution people of Telangana and hence, I am addressing the press meet with proofs of the TDP president’s conspiracies,” said Harish.

The TRS leader released letters written by the TDP president against the projects in Telangana. He referred to the projects including Palamuru Rangareddy, Kaleshwaram, Palair, KC Canal, Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Project and others. Harish said that the AP government refused to take the repatriated employees of Andhra resulting in a burden of Rs 15 crore every month to Telangana. He said that the AP government cancelled power purchase agreements resulting in a loss of Rs 4557 crore to Telangana. He further added that the AP government was trying to take away more water from Srisailam to Rayalaseema from Pothireddypadu. 

Already Pothireddypadu is an illegal project, and drawing more water from Srisailam will dry up Kalwakurthy project, he said. “With whose permission, the AP government is taking up new projects,” he asked. He also found fault with AP government for not handing over the vacant buildings under its control in the name of joint capital. “Chandrababu Naidu made the Governor say division was an unforgettable injury, which shows his anti-Telangana stand,” said Rao.