HYDERABAD: Telugu Desam Party, the main opposition in the assembly, is gearing up for an offensive during the month-long budget session beginning
July 24, indicating that there would be a lot of fire works.
The party will hold talks with other opposition parties for floor coordination on issues like steep increase in the prices of red gram (toor dal), rice, frequent power cuts, poor rainfall, failure to stop Karnataka and Maharashtra from constructing illegal projects on Krishna and Godavari. It is also gathering information about illegal constructions on Tungabhadra river. The party also proposes to raise the issue of the harassment of party MLA from Kovur T V Rama Rao against whom a CID inquiry has been ordered following allegations of sexual harassment of students in the nursing college owned by him at Nidadavole.
Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has asked the party MLAs and the research wing of the party to gather full information with necessary photos and statistics on all important issues to put the government on the mat.
The TDP leaders feel that when the issue of rising prices comes up, the chief minister and other Congress members would surely try to make snide remarks and suggest the retail chain owned by Naidu's wife should sell the goods at cheaper rate to help the common man. The party leaders say that if the government tries to indulge in such tactics, they would respond in a befitting manner. "It is Reddy's style to hit back at the retail chain, Heritage Fresh, owned by Naidu's family members, they said.
Talking to TOI, a senior leader said charity should begin at home and YSR should ask his son and daughter who own power projects in a neighbouring state to run the units at 80 percent plant load factor and supply the entire power to the state power utilities at generation cost so that the gap between demand and supply which is over 500 MW a day could be brought down to a great extent.
Asked if that would mean that there would fire works resulting in pandemonium, TDP leaders said that they would raise the issues as per rules and strive for perfect floor coordination. It is for the government to respond and ensure that proper discussion takes place. TDP, he said, was not interested in creating ruckus in the House but the responsibility to conduct the business smoothly lies with the government, he added.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Take over Babhali, TDP urges Centre
The Telugu Desam party (TDP) has demanded that the Babhali irrigation project in Maharashtra should be taken over by the Central Government to protect the interests of the farmers of Andhra Pradesh. Speaking to reporters here today, party MLA E Dayakar Rao said that the Maharashtra Government had erected crest gates to the dam on the Godavari yesterday and released photographs to to prove his charge.
He alleged that though the Telugu Desam had been making a hue and cry over the construction of Babhali across Godavari river by the Maharashtra Government, the Congress Government in the State had turned a deaf ear to it and remained unconcerned.
“The construction of Babhali was taken up by a contracting firm whose owner is very close to Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Though the chief minister has been aware of the illegal construction, he kept quiet all these years,’’ the Opposition legislator alleged.
Rao asserted that the construction of Babhali project was began only after the Congress came to power in the State in 2004. The chief minister was shedding crocodile tears after the Maharashtra Government completed the construction of the project, Dayakar Rao alleged.
When TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu petitioned the prime minister and the President over Babhali, the Union minister for water resources wanted both the governments of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradehs to sort out the dispute amicably. But no meeting was arranged between these two States, Dayakar Rao alleged.
The TDP MLA demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should intervene at least now and see that Andhra Pradesh’s interests were protected.
Dayakar Rao said that the construction of Babhali was detrimental to the interests of farmers in six districts of the Telangana region.
However, the Congress leaders tried to hoodwink the people of Telangana by saying that Maharashtra was constructing check-dams for drinking water use and there would be no harm to the Telangana region, Dayakar Rao charged.
He alleged that though the Telugu Desam had been making a hue and cry over the construction of Babhali across Godavari river by the Maharashtra Government, the Congress Government in the State had turned a deaf ear to it and remained unconcerned.
“The construction of Babhali was taken up by a contracting firm whose owner is very close to Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. Though the chief minister has been aware of the illegal construction, he kept quiet all these years,’’ the Opposition legislator alleged.
Rao asserted that the construction of Babhali project was began only after the Congress came to power in the State in 2004. The chief minister was shedding crocodile tears after the Maharashtra Government completed the construction of the project, Dayakar Rao alleged.
When TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu petitioned the prime minister and the President over Babhali, the Union minister for water resources wanted both the governments of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradehs to sort out the dispute amicably. But no meeting was arranged between these two States, Dayakar Rao alleged.
The TDP MLA demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should intervene at least now and see that Andhra Pradesh’s interests were protected.
Dayakar Rao said that the construction of Babhali was detrimental to the interests of farmers in six districts of the Telangana region.
However, the Congress leaders tried to hoodwink the people of Telangana by saying that Maharashtra was constructing check-dams for drinking water use and there would be no harm to the Telangana region, Dayakar Rao charged.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
TDP for use of ballot papers in Hyderabad civic body polls
Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam Party today urged the State Election Commission to use ballot papers instead of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the ensuing Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections.
"The usage of EVMs be temporarily suspended till all doubts about their genuineness are cleared and people are confident about its efficacy," TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu said in a letter to the State Election Commissioner A V S Reddy here today.
A debate regarding efficacy of the EVMs is currently on, he said.
At the national level, leaders of all political parties, including Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress, have expressed their doubts over the reliability of EVMs, he said.
Naidu said an NGO Janachaitanya Vedika has demonstrated that EVMs are vulnerable to manipulation.
While Vedika has filed an PIL pleading for discontinuation of its use, the Election Commission of India too ordered an inquiry into the allegations levelled by former bureaucrat Omesh Saigal that it is "possible and plausible" to rig the EVMs, Naidu claimed.
Many countries in the world too have banned the use of EVMs, he added.
Bureau Report
"The usage of EVMs be temporarily suspended till all doubts about their genuineness are cleared and people are confident about its efficacy," TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu said in a letter to the State Election Commissioner A V S Reddy here today.
A debate regarding efficacy of the EVMs is currently on, he said.
At the national level, leaders of all political parties, including Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress, have expressed their doubts over the reliability of EVMs, he said.
Naidu said an NGO Janachaitanya Vedika has demonstrated that EVMs are vulnerable to manipulation.
While Vedika has filed an PIL pleading for discontinuation of its use, the Election Commission of India too ordered an inquiry into the allegations levelled by former bureaucrat Omesh Saigal that it is "possible and plausible" to rig the EVMs, Naidu claimed.
Many countries in the world too have banned the use of EVMs, he added.
Bureau Report
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