The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Congress leaders decry Telugu Desam campaign

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Monday, Jun 28, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Congress leaders decry Telugu Desam campaign

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JUNE 27. Five members of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) on Sunday denounced the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) tirade against the Congress in the wake of the murder of a TDP activist in Anantapur. They said murder politics were inherent to the TDP psyche but not that of the Congress.

In a statement here, the Congress party whip, S. Udaya Bhanu, and the party MLAs -- N. Varadarajula Reddy, Suneetha Laxma Reddy, G. Babji and P. Vishwaroop -- termed the TDP campaign against the Chief Minister, Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, motivated and said the violence in Rayalaseema was a result of the TDP's murder politics of nine years. Under the TDP rule, villages had become highly politicised. In Anantapur district alone, the TD leaders had eliminated more than 500 Congressmen including some local body leaders, they alleged.

The Congress MLAs charged the then Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, with turning a blind eye to the happenings in the region and even encouraging the likes of Kodela Siva Prasad and Rama Subba Reddy by inducting them into the Cabinet. The direct and indirect support lent to the TDP violence by Mr. Naidu was well known and the party had no moral right to sermonise anyone, they said.

Terming the murder of Narasimhaiah, a follower of the former Minister, Nimmala Kistappa, a result of personal dispute, the Congress MLAs said the TDP leaders were provoking Congress leaders after their defeat in the recent elections. The TDP was unnecessarily politicising every killing instead of trying to join hands with the ruling party in bringing peace to the region.

Dr. Rajasekhara Reddy began his stint on a right note by helping bitter rivals patch up in Panyam and calling for truce among feuding factions. But, the TDP showed no interest in it and even criticised Dr. Reddy for his efforts. They said the Congress Government had already made moves to post honest and sincere officers in all the police stations unlike the TDP. The Chief Minister had already asked the police officers to enforce the rule of law impartially, which, perhaps was not to the liking of the TD leaders. The new Government would not use the police as its private army as the TDP had done in the past, they said.

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