The Telugu Desam chief, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, on Saturday refused to spell out his party’s stand on Telangana saying he cannot do it since people of both regions adored him. The Congress is destroying the state with its lopsided policies.

“Mrs Sonia Gandhi should first spell out her party’s stance on Telangana. Why are you after me? What can I say on such issues?” he asked.Demanding a judicial probe into a series of incidents that rocked the state like brutal murder of Vaishnavi in Vijayawada, boat tragedy and hooch deaths among others, he said that such incidents showed a total failure of the administration and lack of fear among officials.

Bad luck is haunting Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, and he is unable to discharge his duties due to non-cooperation of ministers and the political turmoil in the state. Mr Naidu also criticised the home minister, Ms Sabita Indra Reddy for failing to act quickly in various incidents like the Vaishnavi kidnap-murder case.

“She went to Vijayawada two days after I went there. There was no home minister or municipal administration at the Narayanguda incident. I did not see the excise minister when there was a hooch tragedy. In fact, there were allegations against the excise minister,” he alleged.

Saying that the former Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy went overboard with Jalayagnam programme and indulged in corruption, he said the Centre should invest Rs 3 lakh crore and ensure completion of the projects. “The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the UPA chairperson, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, praised YSR for Jalayagnam. A lot of money changed hands and not a drop of water is now in these projects,” he said.  [DC]