Sunday, Dec 15, 2002
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Andhra Pradesh
By W. Chandrakanth
Reiterating their demand for separate Telangana, they said that such a possibility existed only under Congress rule and hoped that the demand would be in the next manifesto of the party. Hailing the AICC president, Sonia Gandhi, for making a demand for second State Reorganisation Commission, the speakers justified their interest in the cause by pointing out that regional parties had failed earlier in securing the goal. They said the Congress if given a two-thirds majority in the next general elections would surely carve out separate Telangana from AP. The speakers included M. Mallikarjun, chairman of the Congress Forum for Telangana, A. Indrakaran Reddy, convener of TCLF, V. Purushotham Reddy, P. Govardhan Reddy, G. Chinna Reddy, K. Ram Reddy, M. Kodanda Reddy, Swamy Goud, Uttam Kumar Reddy, Prasanna Kumari and Sunita Patil, among others. The speakers were unanimous in branding the TRS a traitor and accusing it of serving the cause of the ruling TDP, rather than that of Telangana people. Two parties were demanding separate statehood for Telangana and it was up to people to bet on the right choice to realise their dream, they said. Telangana's exploitation was continuing unabated and there were no doubts as to who the exploiters were, they said. The speakers said the limited strength of Telangana MLAs in a united House was not enough to force the Government to yield to their demand because a greater number of Andhra MLAs continued to blackmail both the Government and the Congress high command to desist from such an effort. The failure of stalwarts like T. Anjaiah, M. Channa Reddy and P.V. Narasimha Rao in honouring the feelings of Telangana people was due to the Telangana MLAs' limited strength, they said. Hence, Telangana must be delinked from rest of Andhra Pradesh for it to progress, they said, indirectly, blaming Congress leaders from other regions. They debunked the TDP claims of development and said there could not be a greater hypocrite than N. Chandrababu Naidu. Languishing people, pending projects and backwardness of the region never did move the rulers from other areas and Telangana's progress was possible only under its own leadership. The `backwardisation' of Telangana was man-made and could have been avoided by any sensible person. But, vested interests played a key role, the leaders said. They dismissed differences between them and the high command on this count and claimed the meeting had the blessings of Ms. Sonia Gandhi. After all she had supported formation of smaller States like Jharkhand, Uttaranchal and Chattisgarh to prove the point that she was not averse to the creation of one more State (Telangana). The Nalgonda meeting itself was being held with the permission of the high command, they added. They said the Chief Minister had already mortgaged the State for Rs. 50,000 crores and he would sell away the entire State very soon. The sooner Telangana got separated from AP the better for people, the leaders argued. The Nalgonda meeting was only the beginning and they would continue to secure public opinion in favour of the demand in all Telangana districts, they said. The meeting was well attended, with people from many parts of the district converging in various vehicles on the Nagarjuna Degree College Grounds. They waited patiently for many hours, though the meeting began around 3.30 p.m.
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