NO WORRIES NOW: TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu consoling a victim of lathicharge by the Maharashtra police on the State-border at Dharmabad on Tuesday.

HYDERABAD: Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday condemned and termed as "brutal and uncivilised" the lathicharge by the Maharashtra police on party workers proceeding to see works at Babli project near Nizamabad.

Addressing a press conference before rushing to Nizamabad to console the injured party workers, Mr. Naidu expressed surprise at the way the MLAs and others were prevented from proceeding to the site, as if it were in another country. Should so much of force be used against people's representatives, he asked.

`Law not violated'

In fact since the Andhra Pradesh Government had paid compensation to Maharashtra for acquiring the site as it formed part of the backwaters of the Sriramsagar Project, technically, the party MLAs and workers were not violating any law in proceeding there, he argued. He wondered why the State police did not do anything.

Referring to the Congress Government's charge that the party was politicising the issue, he wanted it to clarify whether the State had a right over the Godavari waters or not and whether Maharashtra was building a barrage over and above its allocation in violation of the inter-State agreement.

"Let the Government declare openly that we do not have any right over Godavari waters. We will not protest."

He said the party had to take up agitation, as the Government did nothing to prevail over Maharashtra to stop the works. "We have raised it in Assembly and Parliament and represented it to the Prime Minister but the works are still going on."

Refuting the Congress charge that the TDP regime did nothing when Karnataka raised the height of the Alamatti dam, Mr. Naidu said he had to fight with the Prime Minister and five Chief Ministers and see that the State got 150 tmcft of water.

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