By IANS,
Mumbai : Telugu speaking people in Maharashtra are not impressed by the agitation launched by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu and his supporters against construction of the Babli dam, describing it as a vote bank gimmick.
Naidu and 75 of his supporters were arrested Friday in Nanded, Maharashtra, and their judicial custody extended Tuesday. The TDP is protesting Maharashtra’s construction of the Babli dam over the river Godavari, which they claim will deprive Andhra Pradesh’s Telangana region of the river waters.
Ravi Reddy, a veterinary surgeon from Pune, said Naidu could have done his bit for Telangana farmers while he was chief minister. “Telangana is a deprived area and it does need attention. It has a lot of needs that should be attended to, but Naidu is playing the vote bank card. If he wanted to protect the interest of the farmers, he could have done that when he was chief minister of Andhra Pradesh for 10 years,” he said.
Shanti Prakash Reddy, space marketing professional from Mumbai, agreed. “Naidu is now pretending to protect the rights of the farmers when he has been literally thrown out of politics,” he said.
“When he was chief minister for 10 years, all he did was to concentrate on development of Information Technology in Hyderabad. He totally ignored the rights of the farmers,” Reddy added.
Jagan Babu Ganji, president of the Maharashtra Telugu Manch, a Telugu association, said the agitation was affecting a lot of Telugu workers in the region.
“Many of the daily wage earners in Nanded and Vidarbha are from Telangana. The agitation will affect their daily bread. As an association that empowers the Telugu speaking population of Maharashtra, we would request Naidu to call off the agitation and let peace prevail,” Ganji said.
However, Subhash Macha, a Mumbai-based IT consultant, disagreed. “Currently, there are a lot of irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh that have come to a halt due to the rising water concerns in Telangana. Naidu is just pitching for it at the right time,” Macha said.
“Although, Naidu is doing it for political gains, he has taken up a valid cause. The issue, if addressed properly by the central government, will help a lot of people at the macro-level,” Macha added.
Naidu and his supporters allege that Maharashtra is building the dam illegally and it would deprive Andhra Pradesh of its share of Godavari waters.
A magistrate Saturday sent the TDP leaders to judicial custody after they refused to seek bail. The leaders, who spent the third night in Dharmabad ITI, have vowed not to return without visiting the Babli project.
Their judicial custody has been extended till July 26.