Hyderabad:
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has called for a strike in Andhra Pradesh on Monday to protest against the arrest of its chief Chandrababu Naidu.
Naidu was arrested on Saturday when, despite prohibitory orders, he, along with 74 of his MPs, MLAs and MLCs, crossed over the Andhra border and entered Dharmabad in Nanded district of Maharashtra.
Naidu claimed he was there only to inspect the contentious Babhali Barrage project and to fight for Andhra's fair share of water.(
Read-Chandrababu Naidu's Babhali drama)
He was later taken into judicial custody and refused to accept bail. Naidu's two-day judicial custody ends today and the ball is now in Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's court.
Will Chavan allow Naidu to visit the Babhali barrage site to end this stalemate?
For the TDP, the main bone of contention is that the construction of the dam will deprive the Telangana region of its due share of water. It is a political statement, eye firmly on the by-elections to be held to 12 seats in the Telangana region.
The Maharashtra government insists Naidu's agitation goes against the orders of the Supreme Court.
"His approach has been highly political and I believe there are certain elections going on in Andhra Pradesh and that's the reason all this has started," Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said.
The Rs 175 crore Babhli Barrage project is being constructed by Maharashtra to solve the region's water problems. The Andhra government moved Supreme Court insisting it would only help Maharashtra exploit water, affecting the flow into the North Telangana region.
In an interim order, the apex court gave Maharashtra the go-ahead with a rider that it won't block the water by installing gates.
TDP leader Chandra Babu Naidu was arrested in Maharashtra on Saturday for disturbing the law and order situation. Despite prohibitory orders, Naidu along with 74 of his MPs, MLAs and MLCs, crossed over the Andhra border and entered Dharmabad in Nanded district of Maharashtra.
Naidu claims he was only here to inspect the contentious Babhli Barrage project and to fight for Andhra's fair share of water. But the Maharashtra government insists Naidu's agitation went against the orders of the Supreme Court.
"His approach has been highly political and I believe there are certain elections going on in Andhra Pradesh and that's the reason all this has started," Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan said.
Local leaders called for a bandh, but Naidu and his party workers even refused to accept bail. At the heart of the controversy is the fight for water.
The Rs 175 crore Babhli Barrage project is being constructed by Maharashtra to solve the region's water problems. The Andhra government moved Supreme Court insisting it would only help Maharashtra exploit water, affecting the flow into the North Telangana region.
In an interim order, the apex court gave Maharashtra the go-ahead with a rider that it won't block the water by installing gates.
"We had only come to see the project. They arrested us. We won't leave," said TDP leader Devendra Goud.
Naidu has upped the ante saying they will approach the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) over allegations of inhuman treatment. But the Andhra government insists Naidu is raising the pitch only with an eye on the bypolls in end July in Telangana.