Chandrababu Naidu calls for protests on budget day; says Centre ''cheated'' state
Amaravati (AP), Jan 30: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Wednesday said February 1, the day the central government will present the budget in Parliament, will be a "black day" for the state, and called for protests.
In his daily teleconference with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders, Naidu said the Centre had cheated the state in the last five budgets.
"February 1 is a black day for the state. The BJP-led government at the Centre has discriminated against the state at every step. Unless the BJP is trounced at the hustings, justice will not be done to Andhra Pradesh (AP)," the chief minister said.
He asked his party cadre to observe peaceful protests by sporting black badges and showing black flags when the Centre presents the budget for 2019-20.
Referring to reports in China Global Times, a newspaper in China, Naidu said failures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government were being publicised even in China.
"The country has been pushed into chaos under Modi's rule. There is widespread antagonism towards Modi due to unemployment. People are opposing the BJP," he said.
The Andhra chief minister alleged discrimination against the state with regard to the central government releasing funds on Tuesday to various states through the National Disaster Relief Fund.
"Maharashtra has been given Rs 4,717 crore while AP got only Rs 900 crore for drought relief. Andhra suffered extensive damage running into thousands of crores of rupees due to cyclone Titli. Cyclone Phethai also caused severe destruction, but the Centre did not grant even a rupee," Naidu lamented.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
