Naidu rallies for support against illegal mining

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu appears to have been inspired by RLD chief Ajit Singh who rallied the entire Opposition over the sugarcane issue.

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu appears to have been inspired by RLD chief Ajit Singh who rallied the entire Opposition over the sugarcane issue. On similar lines,the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister is trying hard to solicit the support of political parties to take his campaign against illegal mining in the state to the national level.

Lying low after the defeat in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections,Naidu is hoping to bounce back with this issue. He flew into Delhi on Thursday and is busy meeting leaders most of whom had been his allies at some point of time seeking their support

So far,besides the RLD chief,he has met Left leaders Prakash Karat and A B Bardhan,and JD(U)s Sharad Yadav. He has also spoken to AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa,Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the phone.

With the Congress in Andhra deciding to go in for a CBI probe into allegations of irregularities in iron-ore mining by Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) owned by the well-connected Reddy brothers from Bellary,Naidu is now demanding that the Prime Minister convene an all-party meeting on the issue.

His target is clearly the Congress government in Andhra. The Andhra Pradesh government is helping the mining mafia,which has the power to install and destabilise governments. They are dictating terms to the government now. We seek everybodys support, Naidu said. He is open to the idea of meeting BJP leaders.

Karat said the CPM would co-operate with Naidu in raising the issue of illegal mining by the OMC and bringing focus on the mining policy of the government. It is well- documented that every rule and law has been broken. There should be a CBI inquiry into the whole affair, he said.

Naidu,according to TDPsources,has elicited the support of JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda,who has agreed to launch a campaign against illegal mining in Karnataka. The TDP has asked its MPs to raise the issue in Parliament whenever possible.