Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu has said that the objective of the Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi’s ‘Maha Padayatra’ is to ‘protect the interests of the realtors, who are leading it at the behest of TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu and his coteries.
The Padayatra is intended to create differences among various regions in the State in furtherance of a selfish agenda, he asserted, while accusing Mr. Naidu of laying the foundation for what he called the ‘capital scam’.
Addressing the media on Wednesday, Mr. Rambabu said Mr. Naidu and TDP leaders had facilitated the purchase of lands on a large scale in Amaravati, which ‘metamorphosed into a big conspiracy to make a fast buck out of the investments’.
Jana Sena Party president Pawan Kalyan and leaders of the Congress and Left parties had criticised the idea of setting up the capital in Amaravati, saying that it was against decentralisation. Now, they are backing the development of Amaravati as the single capital city, which has exposed their double standards, said Mr. Rambabu during the release of the ‘Whose Capital, Amaravathi?’, a book written by former Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao.
“There is no wonder if Pawan Kalyan joins the Maha Padayatra. He can do so but not before explaining the reversal of his stand,” the Minister said.
Polavaram project
Mr. Rambabu insisted that Mr. Naidu should attend the Assembly sessions, beginning September 15, to make his arguments on the glaring lapses that caused an inordinate delay in the execution of the Polavaram project, a steep escalation in its cost and the phenomenal loss to the State exchequer.
Mr. Naidu might have vowed not to come to the Assembly on purportedly being upset with the dragging of his family into some controversies, but he should set that aside and be present in the House to rebut the allegations being levelled by the government, if he was sure that he did nothing wrong with regard to Polavaram project and Amaravati, the Minister said.
He said it had become a habit of the TDP leaders to create ruckus in the Assembly and force the Speaker to expel them. Mr. Naidu saw to it that the Legislature did not progress smoothly. This unruly behaviour would not serve them any purpose, he added.
