Andhra, Telangana can resolve contentious issues through dialogue: Chandrababu Naidu

Warangal: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said in Warangal that all contentious issues like water as well as power, between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh could be resolved through dialogue. [caption id=“attachment_2096553” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. IBNLive[/caption] “I am saying it again. Whatever problems exist with the bifurcation can be resolved using the AP Reorganisation Act. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were given some benefits by the Centre. Some were given to Andhra Pradesh. They gave some clarity on distribution of electricity, employees, pensions, revenue and assets, but there are some problems,” he said. “There would be happiness if both of us sit and resolve issues. Let’s solve it ourselves. Otherwise we will involve the Centre or some elders. We can resolve in such a manner that is acceptable to both. If we can focus on welfare and development, then states will improve,” he said. However, his efforts to amicably resolve issues evoked no response, he claimed, while addressing a meeting of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers and leaders at Warangal this evening during his first visit to Telangana since the formation of the new state. In a veiled attack on ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leaders, he said some people attacked him for what he did not say. He was referring to comments attributed to him that he governed his state by sitting in a foreign country (Hyderabad). “I feel proud when I go to the (international) airport, convention centre or outer ring road (in Hyderabad). They are all assets created by me. They were all done for the people. I feel proud. When that is the case, something I did not say was attributed to me. The comment that I feel like ruling from a foreign land was attributed to me intentionally. Though I said I did not make those remarks, cheap criticism is being made against me,” he said. Earlier, Congress leaders had wrongly attributed to him a comment that agriculture is a wasteful exercise, he said. Asserting that he would abide by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, Naidu said the regulatory commission did not give acceptance with regard to the Krishnapatnam power project. Incidentally, Naidu has been accused by the TRS of not sharing power produced in the Krishnapatnam project. Observing that he had received love from both Telangana and Andhra regions, he said that he could never let down any region though he was asked by some shift to Andhra Pradesh. Noting that the TDP undertook several welfare and development programmes for the benefit of Telangana, he cited examples of the late N T Rama Rao abrogating the ‘Patel-Patwari’ system in revenue administration in the 1980s and his government taking up irrigation projects in the region. In the wake of the TDP suffering a blow in the Telangana region in recent times after desertion of leaders as well as other factors, Naidu sought to reach out to TDP activists. In a pep talk, he said that the TDP rank and file demonstrated fighting spirit against challenges and that he would take steps for their well being. Prior to Naidu’s arrival in Warangal, the rear portion of the stage from where he was scheduled to address the TDP workers’ meeting, was partially burnt by unidentified people in the early hours of the day. It may be recalled Naidu’s visit to Telangana had turned violent at the height of the agitation for separate statehood for Telangana, when TRS workers had protested against his allegedly ambivalent stand on the statehood demand. Activists of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS), an outfit fighting for categorisation of SCs, protested on the issue with black flags at Jangaon, Kazipet and Hanamkonda when Naidu was on his way from Hyderabad, according to a report from Warangal. However, Telangana’s ruling TRS said that it had no objection to Naidu’s visit to Telangana, but wanted him to reply to its charge that he has been “denying” Telangana its share of power. PTI