Andhra Pradesh

TDP wants probe against State Adviser

Special Correspondent

`Rao has become extra constitutional authority' `Rao has become extra constitutional authority'

HYDERABAD: Undeterred by the threat of K. V. P. Ramachandra Rao, Adviser (Public Affairs) to the Government, to sue one of its leaders, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) again mounted an attack on Dr Rao and sought a judicial inquiry to be ordered against him.

The party commissioned nine MLAs to address a press conference on Thursday as if in response to the support lent by the Congress MLAs to Dr. Ramachandra Rao. The TDP repeated the charges made by the party leader, Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, the other day, and pointed to the way the Congress marshalled 35 legislators, ten corporation chairpersons and Pradesh Congress Committee leaders to rally in support of Dr. Ramachandra Rao.

`Unprecedented step'

This unprecedented step shows the clout enjoyed by Dr. Ramachandra Rao and that was at the core of the entire controversy, they said. Could an unelected person be assigned a role bigger than a Cabinet Minister and allowed to interfere in the day-to-day administration? Will it not undermine the democratic system of governance where the Chief Minister, the Ministers and the MLAs are accountable to the people who elect them, they asked.

Role questioned

They conceded that there was no rule that debarred a person from being chosen as an adviser, but it was the question of sustaining the spirit of the parliamentary democracy. They alleged that Dr. Ramachandra Rao accompanied the Chief Minister everywhere, was involved in all important policy decisions and even in postings and transfers. He has indeed become an "extra constitutional authority," they said.

TDP campaign decried

The chairpersons of a dozen corporations decried the TDP's campaign against the family and friends of the Chief Minister, Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy.

Referring to the accusations hurled at Dr Ramachandra Rao, they reasoned that the TDP leaders were playing the `blame game' to divert people's attention from their own failures. The TDP leader, N. Chandrababu Naidu, was unable to play any constructive role as the Leader of the Opposition and hence was levelling baseless allegations against the Congress leaders.

By targeting the Dr Ramachandra Rao the TDP had only proved that it could stoop to any levels for political mileage, they said.

Dr Rao had held senior positions in the party and was on the APCC election committee too apart from being a long-time friend of the Chief Minister. They felt the TDP was crying wolf unable to digest the popularity of the Congress rule.

Among the chairpersons present were G. Prakash (APSRTC), G.Rudraraju (Andhra Pradesh Health Medical, Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation), A.Rambabu (AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation),

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