The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Lobbies buzz with talk on Naidu's ploy

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 23, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Lobbies buzz with talk on Naidu's ploy

Special Correspondent

Hyderabad: Arguments on whether leader of Opposition N. Chandrababu Naidu was strategically correct in admitting that his party had deliberately furnished wrong information to the House on the Sripadasagar issue dominated the discussions in the lobbies of the Assembly on Wednesday.

Not only members of the fourth estate, but also politicians and visitors were seen animatedly discussing the issue.

`Congress misled media'

Mr. Naidu insisted on his right to resort to such use "such a strategy" to seek correct data from the Government. He was even prepared to face prosecution. He argued that there were different figures, which could have led to the TDP quoting Rs. 1,166 crore as the project cost in their question. He insisted that a mere question did not constitute a part of any official document. The Congress had blown his statement out of proportion and misled the media.

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy however, rubbished Mr. Naidu's claim and said "any question submitted to the House becomes a part of the document and thus a property of the House." He said Mr. Naidu should first peruse the files and get back with his own "documents".

Double speak

Minister for Major Irrigation P. Lakshmaiah said Mr. Naidu's double speak became evident on Tuesday itself. Having admitted that his information was wrong, he was capable of producing fake documents again, the Minister said. As for the Sripadasagar project, the Internal Bench Marking figure was not fudged by the Government as alleged.

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