Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council and senior YCP leader Botsa Satyanarayana warned that reducing the height of the Polavaram project will cause irreparable damage to the Rayalaseema region as well as North Andhra. He said that it is sad that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated funds by reducing the height of Polavaram from 45.72 to 41.15 meters in the budget presented in Parliament on Saturday.
However, AP Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu has accused that former chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy and YSRCP leaders do not have the right to speak on the Polavaram project, the lifeblood of Andhra Pradesh. He alleged that Jagan’s sin of sending the project to the Center in two phases- 41.15 meters and 45.72 meters high has now become a curse for the state.
Former minister Botsa said that a meeting will be organized with experts and intellectuals of the Irrigation Department on the problems that will arise if the height of Polavaram is reduced. He argued that there is no benefit for the state unless the name of the great poet Gurajada is mentioned in this budget.
He said that Bihar’s Nitish Kumar’s party would have made huge allocations to the state only if it had 12 MPs, but the Center ignored AP, which has the support of 16 TDP MPs. He said that the privatization of the steel plant was stopped due to the YSRCP government’s obstruction, and this was stated by Union Steel Minister Kumaraswamy, who recently visited Visakhapatnam.
Botsa demanded that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu should give an assurance to the people of the state that the privatization of the steel plant will not happen. He wanted to tell him from when the Annadata Sukhibhava and Thalliki Vandanam scheme will be implemented. Botsa said that Vijayasai Reddy’s resignation from the YSRCP was personal.. and he would not respond to this.
Meanwhile, Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu said that the Telugu people and farmers will not forgive Jagan for lying about Polavaram. He said that he will remain a historical figure who destroyed the diaphragm wall that was completed during the TDP government’s tenure.
The Minister lamented that the promises he made to the displaced people in the 2019 elections were nothing more than water bottles. He deplored that the YCP chief did not provide them with a single rupee of assistance during his five-year rule. Moreover, he said that the former chief minister also lied by not even doing the necessary cement work in the rehabilitation colonies.
