Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh will continue suffering from drought until Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu is in power, said YSR Congress party (YSRCP) MLA Gadikota Srikanth Reddy. He said Chandrababu, who had admitted that several districts were affected by drought, sent out a false report on the issue to the Centre.

Speaking at a press conference here today, Srikanth Reddy recalled Chandrababu's admission over the natural disaster in the last seven years. "He means to say that rainfall has been low while he was in power. What were you doing since seven years? Why didn't you seek the Centre's assistance?" he demanded to know.

After saying that around 35 lakh acres of land was affected by drought and that 17 lakh farmers were in distress, Chandrababu changed his stance on AP being the No. 1 State in agriculture, the MLA said. Chandrababu is certainly No. 1 in manipulating and twisting numbers in his favour, he added.

In addition to the earlier nine years of Chandrababu's rule, the current regime of five years also registered abysmal numbers when it comes to rainfall across the State, except for Srikakulam and West Godavari districts. Ignoring the farmers' issues in AP, Chandrababu conducted election rallies in Telangana, he observed.

"Sensing the angst of the people in AP, Chandrababu built a new house worth Rs 100 crores in Telangana. NABARD reported that AP is a State with highest debts in the country. Why is Chandrababu roaming around the country without addressing the State's issues?" he asked.

Srikanth Reddy further said that Chandrababu changed his claim of building Hyderabad to building Cyberabad. He wondered if the soul of Qutub Shah threatened him. Chandrababu, who was more interested in making real estate profits for his friends with the Hitec City building, bulldozed the fact that in 1992, former CM Nedurumalli Janardhan Reddy inaugurated the building, he said.

He recalled that the Shamshabad airport was inaugurated by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi while late CM Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy built the Outer Ring Road and the PVNR Expressway. Rahul Gandhi stayed mum when Chandrababu claimed credit for the airport, he added.

Former Karanataka CM SM Krishna never took credit for the steady growth of Bengaluru in his regime. Instead of forging an alliance with the Congress, Chandrababu should merge the TDP with Congress, the YSRCP MLA commented.

Demanding Chandrababu's illegal money be spent to farmers' welfare, Srikanth Reddy said the Special Category Status was the primary objective of the YSRCP.

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