Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Naidu-YSR spat

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD MARCH 26. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, and the Leader of Opposition, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, were engaged in a wordy duel in the Assembly on Tuesday over "mismanagement" of the power sector.

Taunting the TDP Government, Dr. Reddy said the Congress stood by the two-year-old offer of its official spokesman, K. Rosaiah, to manage the affairs of the AP Transco efficiently without increasing the tariff or cutting existing subsidies if it was handed over to the party.

Mr. Naidu was up on his legs suggesting that the Congressmen use their `expertise' for Congress-ruled Karnataka, where there was no power, and Kerala, where NTPC was threatening to discontinue supply.

"I will hand over the AP Transco to Dr. Reddy and Mr. Rosaiah if they improve the power sector in those States,'' he said.

Asserting that the power situation in AP was far better than other States, he made a counter-offer to Dr. Reddy to lead a delegation of MLAs to Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala, all ruled by Congress to study the power sector in those States.

Dr. Reddy retorted with the poser, "Is he Prime Minister of India or Chief Minister of this State. Those States will take care of themselves. Let us take good examples from other States and not the bad ones.

Will he take pride that there are lesser casualties in communal violence in AP than in Gujarat,'' he asked. The CLP leader held aloft a video cassette purportedly containing speeches of Mr. Naidu during the recent municipal elections promising that there would be no tariff hike after the polls.

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