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Congress leader’s statement on Telangana-Andhra reunion kicks up a row
Telangana PCC working president told reporters on Sunday that he would favour the reunion of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which were separated in June 2014 after the passage of the AP Reorganisation Act in parliament
Hyderabad
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee working president T Jayaprakash Reddy’s statement calling for a merger of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states has landed the party in an embarrassing situation.
Reddy, better known in political circles as Jagga Reddy, told reporters on Sunday that he would favour the reunion of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh which were separated in June 2014 after the passage of the AP Reorganisation Act in parliament.
He reminded that he was always in favour of a united Andhra Pradesh. “When the Telangana movement was at peak, too, I argued strongly against bifurcation. Some people called me a betrayer of Telangana but still I could win as an MLA. Now the talk of united Andhra Pradesh has surfaced again and I strongly support it,” Reddy, also a lawmaker from Sangareddy assembly constituency, said.
It all started with a remark made by Telangana Rashtra Samithi president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao at his party’s plenary held in Hyderabad last week that there were requests from the people of Andhra Pradesh to launch the TRS in their state, as they were impressed by the welfare and developmental programmes being implemented in Telangana.
A day later, Andhra Pradesh minister for information and public relations Perni Venkaramaiah alias Nani pooh-poohed KCR’s remarks. “There is no objection if KCR wants to launch the TRS in our state. But instead, he can ask the Centre to reunite both Telangana and Andhra so that there is no need to launch a separate party here. His TRS can as well contest the elections in this region,” Nani said.
Telangana PCC president A Revanth Reddy alleged that KCR had colluded with Andhra leaders and was conspiring for the merger of the two Telugu states again. “Congress president Sonia Gandhi had granted statehood to Telangana when the UPA was in power, after a prolonged struggle by the people. Now, KCR wants to launch the TRS in Andhra, to see that eventually both the states are reunited,” he criticised.
Against this backdrop, the PCC working president’s comments that he also favoured merger of both the Telugu states created tremors in the party. But Jagga Reddy defended his comments saying they were purely his personal and had nothing to do with the party.
“I know the people of Telangana are not demanding the merger of two states. Yet, it is my considered view that it should happen. Nobody, including the PCC chief, can question my right to express my views,” the MLA said.
PCC campaign committee chairman and ex-MP Madhu Yashki Goud said the party would not endorse Jagga Reddy’s comments on the merger of the two Telugu states. “Sonia Gandhi had granted statehood to Telangana only to undo injustice done to the region in the united Andhra regime. Any statement from any leader questioning her decision would only be his personal,” Goud said.
