Andhra Pradesh Irrigation Minister Devineni Uma Maheswar Rao developed affection for his constituency Mylavaram all of a sudden and has taken up road works and other development activities in the region.
The reason is not hard to guess: elections are round the corner.
After spewing his usual dose of venom against Jagan Mohan Reddy at a public meeting, Uma said that he was indebted to the people of Mylavaram for making him an MLA and a Minister and he was therefore spending crores of rupees for the benefit of the farmers and repaying them for backing him.
“We will complete Chintalapudi project very soon and see to it that the Godavari waters flow in the Sagar canals by June-July,” said Uma.
It is indeed a sad thing that Uma is portraying a responsibility as a favour to the farmers.
Regarding his boast that he is spending crores of rupees, is he spending the money from his own pocket? It is the money of the people of Andhra Pradesh.
And as the Irrigation Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Uma is accountable to the people for the delay in completion of Polavaram: the lifeline of the State. Excuses like the Centre is not cooperating etc will no longer hold good.
Did the people elect you on the condition that Polavaram will be completed only if the BJP funds the project? No! Then why blame the Centre now?
In fact, the Centre had agreed to take over the complete construction of the project but Chandrababu Naidu wanted operational control allured by the possible high kickbacks associated with the mega venture. What is the result now?
Work on Polavaram has virtually come to a standstill and the biggest losers are the people. Maybe Polavaram could have been completed with the money spent on Chandrababu’s foreign trips alone.
The yellow media argues that foreign trips are necessary for attracting investments. Nonsense! Nothing is bigger than Polavaram and that is what Naidu’s focus should have been right from the moment he was sworn in as Chief Minister.
Therefore, if Devineni Uma devotes at least a quarter of the time he spends in criticising YS Jagan on genuine developmental activities, the State will be much better off.
Written By Kiran Sharma
(The author is a freelance writer. Views are personal)
