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Focus on growth, not religion; need to take everyone along: Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu
Andhra Pradesh chief minister and NDA partner N Chandrababu Naidu has cautioned against religious intolerance, echoing calls by PM Narendra Modi to focus on development and not divisive issues. "We need to take everybody along with us for overall progress and development of the country," he said in his first comments after the widespread disquiet over the lynching of a man in Uttar Pradesh on rumours that he killed a cow and ate its meat. Naidu, who has spent considerable energy in the last few months to build a new capital Amaravati that is being inaugurated by Modi on Thursday, also called for a review of environmental regulations that he said hinder economic development.
Here are edited excerpts from an interview with ET:
How do you respond to the national debate over the lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri based on rumours that he slaughtered and ate a calf?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have strongly warned the elements behind incidents of religious intolerance, which clearly means neither Modi nor his party endorse such incidents. We need to take everybody along with us for overall progress and development of the country. There are not just elements of religious intolerance but also political intolerance that are hindering development. Political parties and elements that were opposing the Land Acquisition Act should realise that one cannot achieve progress and development without building projects on land. Of course, we should ensure realistic compensation and rehabilitation for people losing their land. We should also condemn elements of such political intolerance, who want the country to remain in poverty in their interest.
What are your thoughts on the political outcome in Bihar?
It will be an advantage for Bihar to achieve development if the BJP-led NDA comes to power there. It will help strengthen the hands of Modi. The Bihar win will provide a unique opportunity for Modi with absolute majority to take the development agenda ahead.
What is your view on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's letter to the Prime Minister seeking special category status for Andhra Pradesh?
The Congress has no moral right to talk about special category status for Andhra Pradesh. It is a party of double standards. Why didn't they include special category in the Act and pass in the Parliament if they were sincere? They acted against the interest of Andhra Pradesh by opposing land pooling for the capital city. All the problems of Andhra Pradesh now are because of Congress
What are your expectations from the Centre on this issue?
We need to pursue the support of the Centre. There are many promises made in the State Reorganization Act that need to be fulfilled by the Centre. Unless the Centre supports us, we cannot progress as planned. It helps the Centre to improve its tax earnings if Andhra Pradesh develops and creates wealth and employment. We are also working on achieving things that weren't included in the Act. We have made public as partners in the development of capital city. We have managed to secure many projects from the Centre that was not part of the Act. We need many more. It is the moral responsibility of the Centre to fulfil all the promises and handhold Andhra Pradesh.
Your government has mobilised over 33,000 acre of land for the new capital land pooling. You also managed to pool land for expansion of the Vijayawada. Will land pooling work for every project?
There are certain limitations to the existing land pooling model that we evolved. We are now looking at formulating further innovative models. One of the ideas is, instead of firming up the location of the infrastructure project and then going in for land pooling, we may finalise the location of the project based on who voluntarily comes forward to part with their land in the pooling mode. Sometimes we may acquire some lands in the interests of the majority.
There are allegations that some have amassed huge land tracts in and around the proposed capital city and land prices have gone beyond the reach of the common man.
We are serious about looking into this issue since high cost of land could discourage many from coming to the city. We will look at regulating land prices. One way to ensure the affordability of land in the capital city is to see that government holds majority of the developed land and release it for public purposes later. We will study the experience of Singapore where there is scarcity of land but it is available at reasonable cost.
The opposition parties are alleging that the land pooling was not voluntary and are accusing you of usurping the fertile agricultural land through coercion.
Unfortunately, there are cynics all around us, and many of them with politically vested interests. Their primary job is to obstruct development. They are worried that development will not leave any room for their political career.
They also accuse you of taking away thousands of acre of forest lands for the capital
We are ensuing that Amaravati will be a blue and green city where water bodies and green belts will be promoted extensively. There are many archaic regulations pertaining to environmental protection and ecological balance which need to be reviewed. While the prevailing coastal zone regulations do not allow us to take up large projects on the seacoast, progressive places like Singapore and Dubai have built large projects by reclaiming land from the sea. In India, we keep polluting our water bodies through all kinds of effluents. I have urged the Modi at a recent meeting on Sagaramala to review all archaic laws that are deterring development.
Andhra Pradesh chief minister and NDA partner N Chandrababu Naidu has cautioned against religious intolerance, echoing calls by PM Narendra Modi to focus on development and not divisive issues. "We need to take everybody along with us for overall progress and development of the country," he said in his first comments after the widespread disquiet over the lynching of a man in Uttar Pradesh on rumours that he killed a cow and ate its meat. Naidu, who has spent considerable energy in the last few months to build a new capital Amaravati that is being inaugurated by Modi on Thursday, also called for a review of environmental regulations that he said hinder economic development.
Here are edited excerpts from an interview with ET:
How do you respond to the national debate over the lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri based on rumours that he slaughtered and ate a calf?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah have strongly warned the elements behind incidents of religious intolerance, which clearly means neither Modi nor his party endorse such incidents. We need to take everybody along with us for overall progress and development of the country. There are not just elements of religious intolerance but also political intolerance that are hindering development. Political parties and elements that were opposing the Land Acquisition Act should realise that one cannot achieve progress and development without building projects on land. Of course, we should ensure realistic compensation and rehabilitation for people losing their land. We should also condemn elements of such political intolerance, who want the country to remain in poverty in their interest.
What are your thoughts on the political outcome in Bihar?
It will be an advantage for Bihar to achieve development if the BJP-led NDA comes to power there. It will help strengthen the hands of Modi. The Bihar win will provide a unique opportunity for Modi with absolute majority to take the development agenda ahead.
What is your view on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's letter to the Prime Minister seeking special category status for Andhra Pradesh?
The Congress has no moral right to talk about special category status for Andhra Pradesh. It is a party of double standards. Why didn't they include special category in the Act and pass in the Parliament if they were sincere? They acted against the interest of Andhra Pradesh by opposing land pooling for the capital city. All the problems of Andhra Pradesh now are because of Congress
What are your expectations from the Centre on this issue?
We need to pursue the support of the Centre. There are many promises made in the State Reorganization Act that need to be fulfilled by the Centre. Unless the Centre supports us, we cannot progress as planned. It helps the Centre to improve its tax earnings if Andhra Pradesh develops and creates wealth and employment. We are also working on achieving things that weren't included in the Act. We have made public as partners in the development of capital city. We have managed to secure many projects from the Centre that was not part of the Act. We need many more. It is the moral responsibility of the Centre to fulfil all the promises and handhold Andhra Pradesh.
Your government has mobilised over 33,000 acre of land for the new capital land pooling. You also managed to pool land for expansion of the Vijayawada. Will land pooling work for every project?
There are certain limitations to the existing land pooling model that we evolved. We are now looking at formulating further innovative models. One of the ideas is, instead of firming up the location of the infrastructure project and then going in for land pooling, we may finalise the location of the project based on who voluntarily comes forward to part with their land in the pooling mode. Sometimes we may acquire some lands in the interests of the majority.
There are allegations that some have amassed huge land tracts in and around the proposed capital city and land prices have gone beyond the reach of the common man.
We are serious about looking into this issue since high cost of land could discourage many from coming to the city. We will look at regulating land prices. One way to ensure the affordability of land in the capital city is to see that government holds majority of the developed land and release it for public purposes later. We will study the experience of Singapore where there is scarcity of land but it is available at reasonable cost.
The opposition parties are alleging that the land pooling was not voluntary and are accusing you of usurping the fertile agricultural land through coercion.
Unfortunately, there are cynics all around us, and many of them with politically vested interests. Their primary job is to obstruct development. They are worried that development will not leave any room for their political career.
They also accuse you of taking away thousands of acre of forest lands for the capital
We are ensuing that Amaravati will be a blue and green city where water bodies and green belts will be promoted extensively. There are many archaic regulations pertaining to environmental protection and ecological balance which need to be reviewed. While the prevailing coastal zone regulations do not allow us to take up large projects on the seacoast, progressive places like Singapore and Dubai have built large projects by reclaiming land from the sea. In India, we keep polluting our water bodies through all kinds of effluents. I have urged the Modi at a recent meeting on Sagaramala to review all archaic laws that are deterring development.
