Date:12/12/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/12/12/stories/2003121205100400.htm

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Azad sees no development in State

By S. Ramu

NALGONDA DEC. 11. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, is according priority to publicity and neglecting development, according to the All-India Congress Committee general secretary, Ghulam Nabi Azad. "Mr. Naidu claims progress on all fronts, but in reality it is different," Mr. Azad told The Hindu at Suryapet on Thursday.

To drive his point home, Mr. Azad recalled his visits to the State in various capacities in the past two and half decades. "As the general secretary of the Youth Congress, I had visited this part of the State between 1975 and 1979. I don't find much change in the State. The condition of roads has worsened further in the last ten years,'' he pointed out.

Comparing the budgetary allocation of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh Governments for the Information and Broadcasting Department, Mr. Azad said: "While Karnataka is allocating Rs.20 crores for publicity, Andhra Pradesh is spending a whopping Rs. 400 crores per year." He alleged that the Chief Minister had been spending money only on construction of flyovers and roads between Airport and the Secretariat and the High-tech city. "In the State capital, the old Hyderabad is still remain a slum,'' he maintained. About the `Prjahita bus yatra' undertaken by the Congress, he said: "Sitting in New Delhi, I too felt that a lot of development had taken place in Andhra Pradesh.

However, to my surprise I could see the ground reality during the `bus yatra.' The response to the `yatra' was very good, he claimed.

About the Telangana issue, Mr. Azad said that he could notice the Telangana sentiment among the public during the `yatra.' "Once the Congress comes to power, it will protect the interests of the region,'' he said.

The in-charge of the party affairs in the State opined that naxalism was not a law and order problem but an economic issue.

"You can not wipe it out by killing naxalites and its sympathisers. One should try to find out the genesis of the problem," he said.

He said that the Congress as a national party would take initiative to bring all like-minded parties, including the CPI and the CPI (M), together to defeat the BJP-TDP combing in the elections.