The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Thursday witnessed a war of words between Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy and Leader of Opposition Chandrababu Naidu, over the issue of water sharing between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and especially the Kaleshwaram irrigation project in Telangana.
Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders questioned Jagan on why he attended the inauguration of the Kaleshwaram project with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, as the YSRCP chief had staunchly opposed the project when he was in the opposition.
Hitting back, Jagan said that Naidu did not do anything when he was the chief minister to stop the construction of the project either.
"When Telangana was building Kaleshwaram to lift 3 tmc ft of water, what could Chandrababu Naidu, as Chief Minister for five years, do to prevent it? Nobody could do anything, he said. I went for the inauguration only after the Kaleshwaram project was completed. When he was Chief Minister here and Telangana was building that project, I am asking, was Chandrababu rearing donkeys?" Jagan was quoted as saying.
The comment triggered a minor ruckus in the Assembly as it met with disapproval from the TDP.
Reacting to this, Chandrababu Naidu pointed out that Jagan's age was almost equal to the political experience that he had and said that Andhra Pradesh would suffer if there was a strain in relationship between KCR and Jagan.
Meanwhile, Jagan also said that two of the four tributaries of Godavari are in Telangana and stressed the need for maintaining cordial relations between the two states.
A day ahead of the beginning of budget session of the state legislature, the government released a white paper on state finances.
It stated that the resources are limited, the debt servicing obligations are overwhelmingly huge, and the vast unavoidable liabilities had placed the government in an unenviable situation.
Releasing the white paper, Finance Minister B Rajendranath said the debt of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh which was Rs 97,000 crores at the time of bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh reached a whopping Rs. 2,58,928 crores by 2018-19.
The YSRCP government alleged that the previous TDP government borrowed recklessly and splurged on wasteful expenditure.
IANS inputs