The Telugu Desam Party on Friday staged a walkout from the all-party meeting called by Chief Minister K Rosaiah over the Babli project, after being told that only one member from each political party was invited to attend the meeting.
The TDP delegation objected by saying that they had informed Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah in advance that 4 members of the party would be attending the meeting, and staged a walkout. The 4-member TDP delegation comprised of Errabelli Dayakar Rao, Kadiyam Srihari, M Venkateshwara Rao and Nama Nageshwar Rao.
The TDP delegation submitted a memorandum stating the party's stand on the issue and their demands to Rosaiah before the walkout.
Rosaiah had called the meeting to discuss the agenda to be put before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when an all-party delegation meets him on July 26.
Cutting across party lines, the political leader condemned the ill-treatment meted out by the Maharashtra government to the TDP team that had attempted to visit the site of the Babli Irrigation Project.
The leaders of all the political parties, barring the TDP, said that the Prime Minister must be implored on to take a personal interest in the Babli issue so that justice is done to the people of Andhra Pradesh.
The meeting also saw the leaders unite in their pledge to stop the illegal constructions by the Maharashtra government at any cost and also work towards ending the dispute once and for all.
Among those who attended the meeting were Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah, former PCC president Narsa Reddy, Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi, Bharatiya Janata Party state unit president G Kishen Reddy, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLA Syed Ahmed Pasha Quadri, Telangana Rashtra Samithi's Vinod Kumar, Communist Party of India secretary K Narayana, Lok Satta Party president Jayaprakash Narayan, and Communist Party of India (Marxist) Julakanti Rangareddy.