Chandrababu Naidu targets Sonia Gandhi, Andhra CM over Telangana issue

SRIKAKULAM (AP): Slamming Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue of Andhra Pradesh bifurcation, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu today said she took the decision only to see her son Rahul become the Prime Minister.

"The decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh was politically motivated. It did not come out of any respect to the sentiments of the people of the region. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi took the cruel decision only to fulfil her own dream of seeing son Rahul become the Prime Minister," Naidu said.

He was speaking here during his visit to the victims of cyclone 'Phailin' and subsequent floods.

He criticised the Congress for joining hands with the YSR Congress party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) for taking the decision of carving out separate Telangana.

"Instead of taking all the parties into confidence on key issues and carrying out a detailed exercise before announcing the decision, the UPA government pushed the state into crisis with the mala fide intention of cornering all the parties," Naidu said.

The TDP chief also lashed out at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy saying that he was merely a "puppet" in the hands of Gandhi.

"Has the government been functioning in the state for the last one year? Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is a puppet in the hands of Sonia Gandhi and he is just dancing to her tunes," he said.

The former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said the UPA government has failed on all the fronts and is ignoring the welfare and development. "Congress is creating unrest in the state as well," Naidu said.

He demanded a compensation of Rs 50,000 per acre to the flood victims in the state