Ponguleti condemns Naidu's dharna on farmers

AICC secretary and MLC Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy on Monday came down heavily on Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu for staging Maha Dharna on farmers’ issues.

Talking to media persons at the Congress Legislature Party office, Sudhakar Reddy suspected Naidu’s commitment on farmers’ problems and accused him of shedding 'crocodile tears' on their issues. He said Naidu, who once termed investment in agriculture as waste, has no moral right to speak on welfare of farmers. He said that the farmers would not believe his 'cheap tricks' anymore. Instead of giving constructive suggestions to the government over the farmers’ woes, he alleged that Naidu was staging dharna to get political mileage over their issue.

Stating that the government was taking all measures to protect the interests of farmers, he expressed confidence that the government would cross over all initial hiccups and address the farmers’ problems in a phased manner.

Responding to appointment of Ministers committee under convenor of Minister for Roads and Buildings Dharmana Prasad Rao to study the reasons for party's failure in by-elections and steps to be taken to rejuvenate the party and government, the AICC secretary said that the committee should contact all former Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and party seniors to elicit their views before submitting its report. He said that the committee should study the lapses in the implementation of welfare schemes and suggest steps to rectify them.

Besides this, he said that the committee should discuss with party seniors over taking the party and government to the doorsteps of people in order to prevent desertions. He also took serious note on government's decision to release water from Nagarjuna Sagar Dam to farmers in Krishna Delta neglecting the drinking water shortage in Nalgonda district. He appealed to the government to review its orders and address the drinking water issue in Nalgonda before releasing water to Krishna delta.