Rosaiah mum on TRS charges against YSR

Hyderabad
Oct. 8: The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, on Thursday parried allegations of corruption made against the late chief minister Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and his pet irrigation project, Jalayagnam by the TRS president, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Mr Rosaiah said he would respond to the allegations after dealing with pressing issues.
It was left to the ministers, Mr D. Nagender, Mr P. Lakshmaiah and Mr D. Sridhar Babu, and the senior Congress leaders, Mr T. Jeevan Reddy and Mr G. Prakasa Rao, who were close to YSR.
The TRS chief had on Wednesday appealed to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to order a CBI probe into Jalayagnam, alleging that the construction of projects illegally was responsible for the wide-scale damage.
Mr Rosaiah dismissed Mr Rao’s allegations about his administration’s negligence in flood management.
The irrigation minister, Mr Ponnala Laxmaiah, later challenged the TRS chief to prove his allegation that the floods was caused by human error and also due to the Pothireddypadu head regulator, which takes Srisailam water to Rayalaseema. Mr Laxmaiah said he was ready to face any punishment if guilty.
In response, Mr Chandrashekhar Rao, who is presently in Delhi, said he was ready for a debate to prove his allegation.
Responding to this, the TRS chief said in Delhi that he was accepting the challenge and was ready for a debate to prove his allegation. If proved wrong, he said, he is prepared to be hanged in public at the Public Gardens in Hyderabad.
Earlier, the TRS chief said that to ensure supplies to Pothireddypadu regulator and projects in Rayalseema, engineering officials had delayed the release of water, which caused flooding in Kurnool.

from DC