The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : TDP comes out with list of State's `failures'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Nov 17, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

TDP comes out with list of State's `failures'

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, NOV. 16. The Telugu Desam has come out with a 40-page booklet listing "the failures'' of the six-month-old Congress Government. The party has alleged that corruption, inefficiency, failure to keep the poll promises and irregularities have taken centre stage in the governance.

Releasing a booklet at a press conference here on Tuesday, the former Ministers -- Tammineni Seetaram and S. Chandramohan Reddy -- said the Government was "cheating'' the poor and failing to keep its promises. They said 2,000 farmers and weavers had committed suicide but the Government remained unmoved.

The Government turned "a blind eye'' to the sufferings of farmers, they said, pointing out that drought relief had not reached villagers. The Government wanted to do away with free power promised to farmers, they charged. Farmers with unauthorised farm connections were being harassed, they alleged.

Rampant corruption, large-scale irregularities and involvement of outsiders in administration had sullied the image of the Government. Frequent hike in the prices of essential commodities and kerosene, gas and oil had caused hardships to people. Charges of land-grabbing and deteriorating law and order were "the achievements" of the Government, they added.

`Cancel tenders'

At a separate press conference, the former Minister, Kadiam Srihari, MLA S. Maruthi and former MP, G. Sukhender Reddy, demanded that the Government cancel the first phase of irrigation tenders.

They said if the tenders were cancelled and fresh bids invited, the Government would save Rs. 2,500 crores. They said 21 works to the tune of Rs. 9,100 crores were given to nine contractors.

The leaders said the Congress had backed out of the debate out of fear that it would be exposed and the large-scale irregularities would become public. They said the Finance Minister, K. Rosaiah, was searching for a face-saving exercise to come out of the embarrassing situation.

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