Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu took a dig at Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Bhairavapalem village near Kakinada in East Godavari district on Tuesday, when the local fishermen said that GSPC, which was operating in the area, was refusing to pay them compensation.

The Chief Minister visited the village on Tuesday to enquire about cyclone relief measures, as cyclone Phethai had crossed the coast at Katrenikona in the vicinity. The local fishermen complained to him that GSPC had laid a pipeline through the village and had not paid them compensation for years.

In response, the Chief Minister told the fishermen and also some of the local journalists that "GSPC is the honourable Prime Minister's gift to our region, as it acquired a bloc and began exploration in the Krishna-Godavari basin when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat. Subsequently, it ran into losses and ONGC was forced to bail it out by acquiring stake in it. The ONGC is being pushed into the red."

The Chief Minister told the fishermen that he was fighting hard to protect the interests of the State and he would also do his best to get them their compensation dues. He said he had written to Oil and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and would do so again.

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