Chandrababu Naidu praises Telangana’s growth, claims credit, ends speech with ‘Jai Telangana’

Says with Rs 3,08,732, it has recorded highest per capita income beating the likes of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka

Hyderabad: Not hiding his political aspirations in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday heaped praises on the young State, stating that it had scaled new heights in the last 10 years. Naidu also wound up his speech with an uncharacteristic ‘Jai Telangana’.

Without attributing the State’s growth to the BRS regime led by K Chandrashekhar Rao that ruled the State from its inception for nearly 10 years, Naidu said Telangana was leading the charts in the country in terms of per capita income (PCI) in large States. With a per capita income of Rs.3,08,732, the State had recorded the highest PCI beating the likes of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, Naidu said. Andhra Pradesh, meanwhile, had recorded a PCI of Rs.2,19,518, he said while addressing a party meeting at NTR Bhavan here.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh got separated in 2014. In the last 10 years, the difference in PCI between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was 35 per cent and it was mainly due to Hyderabad, he said, claiming that after the relentless hardwork by the Telugu Desam government in AP from 2014 to 2019, the difference came down 27.5 per cent. Again after a “destructive government” came to power in Andhra Pradesh, the difference increased to 44 per cent, he said. “More than bifurcation, bad governance in the last five years resulted in severe loss to Andhra Pradesh. Had the same governance continued, the difference in PCI would have increased to 100 per cent,” he added.

“Telangana has got a good base and foundation. The current government has a good opportunity to take it to the next level,” he said.

Stating that development in Telangana that began with HITEC City paved the way for Hyderabad and Telangana to emerge as the number one State in the country, he claimed credit stating that it was the commitment of the TDP that led to this. “Yesterday, while coming to Hyderabad by flight, I saw HITEC City and felt very happy,” he said, also claiming that when the TDP government led by him in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh initially conceived the idea of an eight lane-Outer Ring Road (ORR), many had ridiculed the idea. Similar efforts were made to get the international airport at Shamshabad, he said, however, making no mention that the ORR in its current form was executed by the YS Rajasekhara Reddy government in AP and developed further by the BRS government in Telangana.

“People may not recall, but the work I have done makes me feel happy,” Naidu said, going on to say that after his Telugu Desam government, three Chief Ministers served and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi came to power after bifurcation and served for 10 years. “But the imprints were not damaged,” he said.

Now, the Congress is back in power and is striving to develop the State under the leadership of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, he said, appreciating his former protege for responding positively to his appeal for a meeting on Saturday to address long-pending bifurcation issues.

“There will be differences between the Telugu States but when an outsider invades, we Telugu people exhibit brotherhood. That unity should continue and save Telugu interests and the language,” Naidu said, stressing that this was the main agenda of the TDP.

A few people were of the opinion that continuing differences would augur well for the two States. On the contrary, this would not fetch water and development would be hindered, he said, adding that many issues could be resolved through dialogue by respecting the feelings of the people from Rayalaseema, Telangana and Uttarandhra.

“Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are equally important and I will be at the forefront to protect the interests of the two Telugu States. Though the two governments have different ideologies, discussions should be held and long-pending issues should be resolved in the better interest of both the Telugu States,” he said, winding up his speech saying ‘Jai Hind, Jai Telugu Desam, Jai Telangana’.