Statement on Andhra Pradesh CM's remarks tomorrow

Mumbai, Apr 11 (UNI) Legislative Council Deputy Chairman Vasant Davkhare today directed the Maharashtra government to make a statement on the alleged remarks of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajsekhar Reddy against Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh in connection with the Babhali Barrage Project in Nanded district.

The issue rocked both the Houses of the Legislature today with the opposition demanding a censure motion against Mr Reddy.

Earlier, State Industries Minister Ashok Chavan said details of the statement would be made available within two hours after verification of facts.

The delay by the government to make a statement on the issue led the Sena-BJP to stage a walkout.

As the House assembled after the recess, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Patil said the process of collecting information regarding what Mr Reddy said was on and the statement could only be made tomorrow.

This irked the opposition and the House had to be adjourned twice for ten minutes.

Later, Vinod Tavade (BJP) demanded that the statement be made today itself, while Ulhas Pawar (Cong) said the need is to verify the facts before passing the censure motion.

''If any such statement has been made, then we will also join in the censure motion,'' he assured.

Arvind Sawant (Sena) wondered why, in the era of information technology the government could not avail details about the alleged statement made by Mr Reddy within two to three hours.

UNI