VIJAYAWADA: Kankipadu MLA Devineni Rajasekhar stood by his stand that a mayor should have at least three years to be effective and get things done. Answering questions on his controversial statement at a press conference here on Thursday, he said that it required a minimum of three years for a person to be in the mayor's post to get a hang of the situation and execute projects.

He said even officials would not take a "temporary" mayor seriously. This was applicable to anybody -- not just CPI candidate Tadi Sakuntala who has been made mayor as part of an electoral agreement between the Congress and the CPI. "In my opinion, she would have been better off had she not accepted the post for a period of one year," Mr Rajasekhar said.

When the Congress candidate had to become mayor, at least she (the post is reserved for women) should be for a minimum of three years, he said. He would convey this to the party leaders if they consulted him, Mr Rajasekhar said.

`No need for demands'

Asked why Krishna delta MLAs were mute spectators to the release of water from Srisailam reservoir through the Pothireddipadu head regulator, Mr Rajasekhar said the Government had taken care to ensure that water was released only when there was surplus. Krishna Delta MLAs would lose out by precipitating the conflict. There was no need for them to make any demands because the delta was assured of water. The Government set right the wrongs of 170 G.O. by issuing the 69 G.O. in which it laid down clearly the priorities for releasing water and Pothireddypadu was listed way below other schemes like Telugu Ganga and some drinking water schemes. He said Telugu Desam leaders Bhooma Nagireddy, Mysoora Reddy and Devineni Umamaheswara Rao were confusing people by making conflicting statements about Telangana. He wondered why the Telangana region could not be developed when TDP heavyweights like Devender Goud, Kadiam Srihari and Nagam Janardhana Reddy -- all from the region - were at the helm of affairs.

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