NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

BJP begins mediation in TDP-Cong stand-off

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

The Bharatiya Janata Party Tuesday offered to mediate to end the stand-off between the ruling Telugu Desam Party government in Andhra Pradesh and the main opposition Congress on the controversial power tariff hike issue.

Over 70 legislators, most of them Congressmen, are on a fast-onto-death in Hyderabad trying to force the government to roll-back the tariff hike.

While both the TDP and the Congress have said yes to a dialogue, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and leader of the opposition Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy have shown no signs of budging from their positions.

A four-member BJP delegation, comprising Dr K Laxman, K Haribabu, R Ravindranath Reddy and G Ramakrishna Reddy met Reddy at the hunger strike site and urged him to hold talks with the government.

The BJP team made it clear they were not carrying any message from the government.

The chief minister has, meanwhile, said he has an "open mind" on talks with the fasting Congress legislators. In the same breath, however, he ruled out rollback of the power tariff hike. "If the power tariff is rolled back, development will roll back," he said.

Naidu accused the Congress and Left parties of resorting to unnecessary pressure tactics.

"Other states too have hiked power tariff. Out of the hike of Rs 791 crore, government departments alone would contribute Rs 100 crore," he explained.

Naidu said the Congress legislators would scare the investors away if they continued their fast. "When we are competing with developed states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat to attract investment, such agitations can vitiate the atmosphere," he said.

ALSO SEE
Two more AP Congress legislators hospitalised
Naidu takes tariff hike issue to the people

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report