Telangana demand: Naidu blames Centre for chaos in AP

Hyderabad, Jul 18: Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu has lashed out at the Centre for pushing Andhra Pradesh into turmoil by dragging its feet on the contentious statehood demand.

At the same time, Chandrababu also hinted at the possibility of AP facing mid-term elections because of the ongoing political uncertainty.

"Chaos is reigning in the state...there is a lot of political uncertainty. The Government of India is to be blamed for this," Chandrababu Naidu said, inaugurating a three-day training programme for his party workers at the TDP headquarters here today.

The Government of India's ulterior motive was to weaken the Telugu Desam by causing political instability in AP, Chandrababu alleged, but asserted that no force could cause any damage to the party.

"The Congress is seeking to amalgamate the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) with it and thereby weaken the TDP. But its nefarious plans will never work," the TDP chief said.

The former Chief Minister said the Centre could not escape from its responsibility on the statehood issue any longer. "It is baffling why the Centre is unable to take a decision after all the parties have given their views. It is solely responsible for the current turmoil in the state," Chandrababu added.

Hinting that the state might face mid-term elections "anytime now" given the current political uncertainty, the TDP president exhorted his party rank and file to be fully geared up. He demanded that the state government immediately conduct elections to the rural and urban local bodies that were overdue.

Speaking on the issue of corruption, Chandrababu said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has become a "rubber stamp" of Sonia Gandhi.

"The UPA government is not even thinking about eradicating corruption in the country. It is acting only when the Supreme Court is prodding it," he criticised.

The Congress promised in its election manifesto that it would launch steps to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks to India but till date it did nothing in this respect. The TDP president reiterated the demand that the Prime Minister too should be brought under the ambit of the proposed Lokpal.

PTI