The Hindu Business Line : Industrialist, former CM clash for Vizag LS seat

IN a crucial contest, the former chief minister and Congress veteran, Mr N. Janardhana Reddy, is taking on the industrialist and Telugu Desam leader, Mr M.V.V.S Murthy, for the Visakhapatnam Lok Sabha seat, the election for which will be held on Tuesday in the first phase.

Accusing Mr Janardhana Reddy of changing his constituencies for each term, the Telugu Desam mounted a sustained attack on him.

"Nobody knows which constituency Mr Reddy will contest from in the next election. During his chequered career, he has changed his constituencies for almost each term in the Assembly or the Lok Sabha. He is not a native and he is not loyal to Vizag. He is not familiar with the local problems,'' Mr Murthy said at a press meet here on Monday on the eve of the elections.

Mr Murthy said a number of projects had been taken up in Visakhapatnam by the Telugu Desam Government during the past five years and most of them were in different stages of completion.

"The international airport project, the apparel park project, the Parawada pharma city, the IT park being developed in 200 acres, the call centre being set up by the HSBC and various tourism projects are our achievements. We will complete all of them, if we are voted back to power. We have ambitious plans to develop Vizag as the next IT centre in the State after Hyderabad and to promote tourism simultaneously,'' he said.

Reacting to the TDP campaign, Mr Janardhana Reddy, who served as the Chief Minister of the State for two years in the early nineties, said that as a former chief minister he was aware of the problems of all regions and he had a right to contest from anywhere in the State.

"I am known and loved by the public all over the State. Therefore, nativity is of no consequence. I am committed to the development of Visakhapatnam and the welfare of the citizens,'' he said.

He accused the Telugu Desam Government of handing over huge chunks of land to private companies in the name of tourism promotion, leaving the citizens with hardly any lung space.

He said the public sector units in Visakhapatnam, such as the BHPV, had been grossly neglected by the Telugu Desam.

"Many of them were set up during the Congress regime to develop the city. Now they are on the verge of closure. I shall try to revitalise them. That is my first priority,'' he said.

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