The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Fresh row over free power to ryots in Andhra Pradesh

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, May 30, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Fresh row over free power to ryots in Andhra Pradesh

K. Venkateshwarlu

Chandrababu Naidu sees contradiction in Manmohan's stand

HYDERABAD: The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh's assertion in Himachal Pradesh that free power to farmers was an obstacle to making the country self-reliant has sparked a political row in Andhra Pradesh, one of the few States to implement the scheme aggressively.

The Telugu Desam president, N. Chandrababu Naidu, took time off from the party's Mahanadu to highlight the apparent contradiction in the Prime Minister's statements. Mr. Naidu was non-committal on whether or not the scheme should be continued but kept saying how the Congress' stand lacked clarity and how the State Government had diluted its implementation. The Congress Government in Punjab withdrew it after elections while the Maharashtra Government wanted to go the Andhra Pradesh way.

`Farmers burdened'

Mr. Naidu said in a chat with mediapersons on the sidelines of the Mahanadu that after making a promise before the elections and approving free power as the first file, the Government had imposed a number of conditions, using "deceptive methods."

"On paper it is free power, but it has cast a heavy burden on farmers as they are asked to install capacitors."

Asked to comment on Dr. Singh's stand, the Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on a visit to Cuddapah, avoided responding directly but recalled that the former was indeed "convinced of the inevitability of the scheme in Andhra Pradesh in view of the special circumstances prevailing in the State."

He was apparently referring to Dr. Singh's earlier view on the subject made clear during his visit to the State a few months ago. Dr. Reddy said despite the scheme, the CRISIL rating of the Andhra Pradesh Transco was good, though it was down by three notches.

The BJP too reacted sharply. Bandaru Dattatreya, national secretary of the BJP, said the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister's statements had "confounded the prevailing confusion on the subject." Dr. Singh saw it as an obstacle to self-reliance while for Dr. Reddy it was important for needy farmers. It was clear that the Congress had "deceived" people by making such promise to win the elections.

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