BJP State president Somu Veerraju said on Thursday the comments being made by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders on the multipurpose Polavaram irrigation project tantamount to questioning the very formation of Telangana, as the national project was a part of the A.P. Reorganisation Act, to which Telangana was deemed to have given its consent as per Section 90 (3) of the Act.
Addressing the media here, Mr. Veerraju insisted that the project be constructed as envisaged in the Act, and the leaders of both the States refrain from making public statements with political motives.
Mr. Veerraju said the YSRCP that had accused the officers involved in the construction of the project of committing irregularities when in the Opposition gave them key postings after coming to power in 2019.
He pointed out that the Polavaram submergence mandals had been merged with Khammam in 1960 and, after 2014, when Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh, Bhadrachalam town and two other mandals were given to Telangana.
The Dummugudem tail pond, now in Telangana, had been constructed when Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the Chief Minister to take water to Nagarjuna Sagar. Because of this project, the parched Rayalaseema region was suffering a lot, he said.
Mr. Veerraju said the BJP was the only party that had done a comprehensive study on the fallout of the bifurcation, and recalled that the TDP MP from Warangal had then opposed the Polavaram project.
In stark contrast, former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had accorded it top priority and “indulged in a publicity stunt” with the slogan, ‘Somavaram - Polavaram’, the BJP leader said .
Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who had raised a hue and cry over the alleged corruption in the implementation of the project, failed to take action against those responsible even three years after coming to power, he alleged.
‘Rice scam’
Mr. Veerraju further alleged that the Kakinada anchorage port was serving as a conduit for exporting massive quantities of rice to other countries in blatant violation of the norms prescribed instead of being distributed among the poor under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, Mr. Veerraju alleged.
Party leaders Ankala Reddy, B. Sriram and K.V. Lakshmipathi Raja were present.
