War of words between ministers of Telugu states

A war of words broke out between ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday following some remarks by Telangana’s Finance Minister T. Harish Rao about the conditions in the neighbouring state.

Defending his comments made while addressing workers from Andhra Pradesh settled in Sangareddy on Tuesday, Harish Rao lashed out at both the ruling and main opposition parties of Andhra Pradesh for ignoring the interests of people.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader questioned the silence of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) on special category status to Andhra Pradesh and privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant by the Centre.

Addressing the BRS Athmeeya Sammelanam in Andole on Wednesday, the minister slammed both the parties for not questioning the Centre over its failure to fulfill commitment made to Andhra Pradesh at the time of bifurcation of the state.

Harish Rao said both the YSRCP and the TDP were competing with each other to be in the good books of the BJP-led Union government and hence not raising their voice for special status to Andhra Pradesh, which was a promise made under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014. He said both the parties were silent on the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant issue too.

Addressing a programme at Sangareddy on Tuesday, Harish Rao had asked construction workers, who arrived from Andhra Pradesh to Telangana, to enroll as voters here because the state had much better facilities.

Some ministers in Andhra Pradesh took objection to comments made by Harish Rao and asked him what is there in Telangana.

Countering the Andhra ministers, Harish Rao asked them to come and experience Telangana instead of throwing mud and making unnecessary comments against the state.

“Let them come and experience for themselves what is here. Telangana has paddy crops on 56 lakh acres, which was half of the total paddy cultivation in India in the Yasangi season. Telangana is also giving Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, Kalyana Lakshmi, round-the-clock free power supply, KCR Kit and many other schemes, which the Andhra Pradesh government could not even dare to implement,” he said.

Andhra Pradesh’s Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, however, questioned Harish Rao’s locus standi to speak about Andhra Pradesh.

“Who is Harish Rao to speak about Andhra Pradesh. Let him focus on his own state,” he said.

“Our people know how to govern the state,” he remarked. The YSRCP leader feels that Harish Rao might have made the comments for political mileage.