Date:13/12/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/12/13/stories/2003121304600400.htm

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Not averse to talks with People's War: CM

By Our Staff Reporter

KURNOOL Dec. 12. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has said the TDP Government is ready to hold talks with People's War extremists provided there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, Mr. Naidu said the negotiations should not become an excuse for "buying time.'' He sharply reacted to the offer of the Congress for holding talks with the PW if the party came to power and asked the Congress what was it doing in the last 35 years of its rule.

The Congress should know that it was routed in the Bastar region of Madhya Pradesh in the recent elections because of the extremist problem there. Complacency on the part of the Government in tackling the extremism would be nothing but playing with fire, which would spread to new areas in no time. He said the Congress should not be under the impression that TDP leaders had nursed personal grudge against extremists. The parties which indulged in "doublespeak'' should be exposed, Mr. Naidu said, adding the problem of extremism was scaring away investors. If neglected, Andhra Pradesh would become a State of endemic violence, he said.

On the Telangana issue, he said the region could be developed only under the unified State. Much of the development in Telangana districts was sponsored by the TDP Government. What was being done now was motivated by politics and not out of any love for the region, he said.

Mr. Naidu stressed the need for harnessing the Godavari river for solving the irrigation problems in the State. Around 3,000 tmcft flowed waste into the sea from the river, which had potential to irrigate three crore acres in the State. The dreams of people on the irrigation front could be fulfilled if the Ichampalli, Polavaram, Singareddypalli, Dummugudem and Devadula projects were completed. Around 100 tmcft could be saved in the Krishna river by linking both rivers and the water saved could be transferred to deficit areas like Rayalaseema and Telangana. On the Siddeswaram weir across the Krishna, Mr. Naidu said such projects could be thought of only when the flow in the Krishna river became dependable.

He said the TDP Government in the last eight years had relentlessly pursued the reforms with a human face despite many odds and showed the best result to the world. The Singareni Collieries which was in continuous losses was steered towards profits. The reforms cut down the expenditure on public sector units by Rs. 500 crores.