Date:10/05/2005 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2005/05/10/stories/2005051016450500.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Stop tirade or incur people's wrath, Congress tells TDP

Special Correspondent

`Telugu Desam has no moral right to criticise the Congress Government'

HYDERABAD: The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has criticised the TDP for its "continued tirade" against the ruling party and warned its leaders of a public backlash.

Addresing a press conference on Monday, the secretary of the CLP, S. Gangaram, and MLAs -- G. Chinna Reddy, P. Shankar Rao, Swarna Sudhakar, D.K. Aruna, G. Gurnadha Reddy, P. Veeranna and J. Krishna Rao, said TD leaders were unable to see reality.

TD leaders had no moral right to criticise the Congress Government, more so, when the Congress had initiated many welfare measures for the poor, they said. TDP leaders like Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who had "misused" the Food- for-work programme for "personal gain" would never know what public service was all about, they said.

Back to basics

At a separate press conference, the Chief Whip, N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, said TDP leaders should be ashamed of their Government's performance and learn basics in governance from the Congress.

Though the Telugu Desam Party had promised in its 1999 election manifesto construction of 35 lakh houses in the next five years, it could complete only 13 lakh houses. Compared to this the Congress Government had completed 6,54,326 houses in the last one year. This was a record in the country itself, he said.

BJP under fire

Six chairpersons of various corporations asked the BJP to name one irrigation project that it could secure for Andhra Pradesh while it was in power at the Centre.

Referring to Bandaru Dattatreya criticism of the Congress rule, they said not a single benefit accrued to the State when its ally, the TDP was in power here and the NDA was in power at the Centre.