Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy is neglecting supply of water for drinking and irrigation purposes to the Rayalaseema districts by not bringing assured water from the Tungabhadra and the Krishna, BJP State president Somu Veerraju has said.
Former Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao brought Telugu Ganga, but former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy did nothing to bring water to the Rayalaseema region by widening the HNSS Canal or getting a parallel canal dug from the Tungabhadra Dam to get the full quota of assured water, Mr. Veerraju said at a press conference here on Wednesday.
For the 2024 general elections, assured water for Rayalaseema would be BJP’s main agenda, he said.
‘Sticker parties’
Branding the TDP and the YSRCP as “single sticker” and “double sticker” parties, he took exception to the government diverting funds given by the Centre for 23 lakh houses to other schemes and promising the housing beneficiaries only 15 lakh units.
“The YSRCP MLAs have purchased lands by spending the money meant for the remaining 8 lakh houses,” Mr. Veerraju alleged.
“Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy is claiming credit for the schemes granted by the Centre without spending any money on them from the State budget,” the BJP leader said.
He wondered why State government was not taking up with the Karnataka government the issue of getting another canal dug for bringing the full quota of the Tungabhadra waters.
“What has happened to the HLC modernisation and HNSS canal widening works? Delay in these works is depriving the Rayalaseema region and the Prakasam district of their rightful share in drinking and irrigation water. The BJP will soon launch an agitation on the issue,” he said.
Mr. Veerraju also said that the Centre was pumping a lot of money through the MNREGS and getting roads and infrastructure developed in the colonies where house sites were proposed to be given from December 25 to January 7 in Andhra Pradesh.
The Centre had sanctioned ₹1.5 lakh per house, but the State government was adding only ₹60,000, he alleged.
Party State general secretary S. Vishnuvardhan Reddy was present.
