Former Rajya Sabha member and senior BJP leader TG Venkatesh made it clear that his party is committed to the Rayalaseema Declaration and it will be implemented. He recalled that he was the one who started the fight for Andhra Pradesh to be a united state, and that he had given evidence to political parties that Rayalaseema was backward.
TG Venkatesh deplored that the previous government had undertaken the Rayalaseema lift irrigation scheme at Pothireddypadu without permission, due to which the project was stopped midway and led to a huge waste of public money. He said that action should be taken against those who undertook the construction of the project,
Hailing the six-month old coalition government’s functioning, he said it has been tackling several critical problems with the administrative experience of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. He is confident that an industrial revolution is coming in Rayalaseema, and that his son, Industries Minister TG Bharat, is continuously working to establish projects in this region.
He expressed concern over poor progress in the Handri Nivasa project and asked the government to allocate sufficient funds so that canal work should be undertaken to provide water to the entire ayacut. TG Venkatesh appealed to Telangana CM Revanth Reddy to start taking steps towards implementing the AP Bifurcation promises and Telangana political parties to also cooperate in implementing these promises.
He deplored that only centrally funded projects are moving rapidly in Telugu states and suggested that both the Chief Ministers should focus on important projects. Stating that AP industrialists are paying taxes in Telangana, but AP is not getting the shares it deserves. He said that Chief Minister Chandrababu and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan should take the initiative in this regard.
He said that he had requested Union Minister Gadkari to undertake a project with an iconic bridge over the Krishna River at Siddeswaram, and Gadkari agreed to it. But he said that the project was withdrawn because the previous government did not send proposals for it.
He deplored that a High Court bench was supposed to come to Kurnool in the past, but it was stopped due to protests by some lawyers. TG Venkatesh expressed confidence that the coalition government would set up a High Court bench in Kurnool.
