Naidu equates YSR to Duryodhan

Hyderabad: After a cooling off period, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy and his bete noire, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, renewed their war of words which very often have gone personal . On Tuesday, it was Naidu's turn.

"The chief minister and the 'brazen' attitude he displays in the House when he intervenes during debates reminds us of Duryodhan, the Kaurava leader, before the battle of Kurukshetra," Naidu said.

Talking to the media on Tuesday, the TDP president said the chief minister had become highly "arrogant and egoistic," and is unable to control himself and was hence claiming that all the parties whose future is being threatened were coming together.

Duryodhana used to claim that he was the supreme ruler and no one can defeat him. The chief minister should realise that his "empty claims," will not get him votes.

"The people are not with the Congress. Rajasekhara Reddy cannot claim to have monopoly over voters," he said.

Referring to the chief minister's intervention during the reply to a discussion on shortage of fertilizers in the state, Naidu said Rajasekhara Reddy claims that the productivity in the state had gone up while the government records say that it had come down in case of rice, jowar, bajra groundnut and malt.

Similarly, the net irrigated area had come down from 16.49 lakh hectares to 16.27 lakh hectares in the last five years despite the claim that crores of rupees was being spent on Jalayagnam. While the farmers suffered due to less returns, the consumer was suffering on account of rising prices, Chandrababu Naidu said.

The chief minister is likely to respond to the TDP leader in a day or two.

Source : Times Of India