Telugu Desam Party's bus yatra to Maharashtra today to see the Babhli barrage being "illegally" built by the neighbouring state is nothing but an attempt to gain political mileage, a Congress MP said today.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu did not bother about the project while he was in power and is now shedding crocodile tears, Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao told reporters.

"It is meaningless to take up the bus yatra now when Chief Minister K Rosaiah has promised to lead an all-party delegation to the Prime Minister later this month," Rao said.

Naidu was leading a delegation of party MLAs, MPs and other leaders to the project site in Maharashtra's Nanded district, bordering Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh.

Citing possible law and order problems, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan last night telephoned his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Rosaiah requesting him to deter Naidu and other leaders from undertaking a bus yatra to the site.

Naidu has announced he would undertake the yatra along with party MLAs and other Opposition legislators to inspect the Babhli project, which he said, was illegally constructed by Maharashtra in violation of the Supreme Court orders.

The TDP intends to mount pressure both on the AP Government and the Centre to prevail upon the Maharashtra Government to stop the "illegal" project at once.

Rosaiah had appealed to Naidu and senior TDP leader E Dayakar Rao to call off the yatra, but they refused to do so.