Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for comparing the Polavaram project to an ATM.
Addressing a public meeting at Madanapalle, Mr. Naidu said: “Polavaram is our ATW (Any Time Water), while the ATMs of Mr. Modi have no cash in them.”
Blaming Mr. Modi for the Godhra incident, Mr. Naidu said that there would be no security to the minorities if he was re-elected. Voting for YSRCP chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was nothing but voting for Mr. Modi, he added.
Visibly irked by the PM’s remarks on Heritage Foods, Mr. Naidu said: “If I lose power, I can go to my wife, son, daughter-in-law and a grandson. But where can you go?” he asked.
Referring to the Archaeological Survey of India’s (ASI) letter to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, he alleged that Mr. Modi had hatched a conspiracy to appropriate the temple of Lord Venkateswara, unmindful of the sentiments of the devotees.
KCR warned
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had approached the Supreme Court to take control of the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar projects, and if this happens the interests of Rayalaseema would be endangered. If Mr. KCR kept hurting the self-respect of people of Andhra Pradesh, “we will claim back Bhadrachalam,” he said.
‘Actors intimidated’
Mr. Naidu alleged that the TS Chief Minister was intimidating film stars in Hyderabad and forcing them to campaign for Mr. Jagan. He said Mohan Babu, Jayasudha and Ali, who joined the YSRCP recently, are “migratory birds.”
“Why didn’t they come when Hudhud and Titli cyclones battered the coast and when the State was in grip of drought?” he asked.
Mr. Naidu said in an emotion-choked voice that Mr. Jagan had heaped insults on him on several occasions, adding: “I can’t stoop to his level.”
At Puttur, the CM said Godavari waters would soon be reaching the town. He said sitting MLA R.K. Roja (YSRCP) remained inaccessible to people, and doing TV shows in Hyderabad.
Likening himself to a driver, Mr. Naidu said at an election rally at Sarvepalli in Nellore district that he would safely steer the State on the path of progress.
Referring to Mr. Jagan’s appeal to people to give him a chance, he wondered: “Will anyone commit suicide or touch live electrical wire or jump from hilltop just for one time?”
The Chief Minister told a large gathering of farmers in the drought-prone Sarvepalli Assembly constituency that he would drought-proof the region by completing the interlinking of rivers between the Vamsadhara and the Penna.
