Hyderabad : Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy will make a statement in the Assembly on Wednesday "to set the record straight" over allegations by the Opposition about cost escalation of Rs. 400 crores in tenders for the Sripadasagar Project.

Announcing this at a press conference, Minister for Agriculture N. Raghuveera Reddy, claimed that the Government would nail the Opposition `lie' and prove its innocence. He denied that the Government was either shielding the guilty or hiding the facts.

Asserting that the Government was transparent and that there was no malpractice involved in the project, the Minister said that in spite of the ruling party's offer for a debate, the Opposition was raising a storm just to embarrass it.

TDP claim

He said the Telugu Desam was claiming that the Government's refusal to place files relating to the project in the House was itself proof of corruption. Going by the same yardstick, Mr. Naidu was liable to be called corrupt for having securing stay orders in the Yeleru scam and the liquor case, he said.

Taking exception to the behaviour of Telugu Desam members after their suspension, he said they had crossed all limits of decency. Every issue could be resolved through debate, but the TD believed in plunging the House into chaos and not in democratic debating traditions, he said. He recalled that all Congress and Left members were suspended during the agitation against hike in power charges when the TDP was in power.

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