Retired IPS officer and former Andhra Pradesh intelligence chief A B Venkateswara Rao on Wednesday took potshots at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, accusing him of running the state like a family venture.
Taking a sarcastic dig at the state government, ABV questioned Naidu over the omission of Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu’s photograph from newspaper advertisements issued to publicise the release of Godavari water to North Andhra through the Polavaram Left Canal.
The Andhra Pradesh government published advertisements in newspapers under the headline “Godavari in Spate – Wings to North Andhra’s Dreams” to highlight the movement of Godavari water towards North Andhra.
The advertisements carried photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and Minister Nara Lokesh, along with the emblem of the Andhra Pradesh government.
However, the photograph of Nimmala Ramanaidu, whose department is directly associated with the irrigation project, was conspicuously absent.
“Mr Chief Minister, everyone knows that except you, Lokesh and Pawan Kalyan, all other cabinet ministers are just figureheads. Still, there are certain conventions,” he said in his post.
He questioned the decision to feature ministers from departments unrelated to the irrigation project while leaving out the Water Resources Minister.
“In an irrigation project programme, photographs of ministers from unrelated departments have been included, while the photograph of the Irrigation Minister has been left out,” he said.
Drawing a comparison with the previous Telangana government, ABV referred to former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s administration in 2018.
“KCR ran the government for 68 days with only himself and Mohammed Mahmood Ali, without a full cabinet. You too could run the government with a three-member cabinet. Why waste money?” he remarked sarcastically.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government is working towards completing the main Polavaram reservoir by June 2027. Even before the reservoir is completed, the government has begun moving Godavari water towards North Andhra through lifting arrangements connected to the Polavaram Left Canal.
Anakapalli district is among the first areas being supplied with Godavari water under the initiative.
The Polavaram Left Canal originates at Nelakota in Devipatnam mandal and extends for about 213.409 km towards Visakhapatnam.
Although the main Polavaram reservoir is yet to be completed, Godavari water is being diverted through the canal using lift irrigation schemes constructed at Pushkara and Purushothapatnam.
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