Asserting that their fight on the Babhli irrigation project issue was in no way related to the July 27 by-elections, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said they would withdraw from the contest in all the 12 seats if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gets the construction work on the illegal Babhli project stopped forthwith.
"If Chief Minister K Rosaiah secures a clear assurance from the Prime Minister on protecting the state’s interests, the TDP will have no hesitation in withdrawing from the by-election contest," Chandrababu Naidu announced in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
The TDP chief’s announcement assumes significance as the Congress and the separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti have been critical of his agitation against the Babhli project saying it was taken up only to benefit in the by-elections in 12 Assembly constituencies in Telangana region.