The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Left parties differ over Telangana

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 13, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Left parties differ over Telangana

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 12. At a meeting to commemorate the Telangana Armed Struggle the two Communist parties quibbled over whether the legacy of that movement justified a separate Telangana or a united Andhra Pradesh.

Koratala Satyanarayana, Telangana armed struggle veteran and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, argued that the Telangana armed struggle had put land reforms on the political agenda and directly contributed to the formation of Andhra Pradesh under the slogan "Vishalandhralo Praja Rajyam" (People's rule in united Andhra).

Divergent view

Drawing a somewhat divergent lesson from the same movement, Nalgonda MP and CPI State Secretary, Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, said that many of the problems faced by the peasants of Telangana remained acute even today and fed the demands for "justice" to the region and statehood. He reiterated his party's commitment for a second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC).

The meeting was addressed by many veterans of the Telangana Armed Struggle, including K.L. Mahindra, AITUC general secretary and Mallu Swarajyam, CPI(M) Central Committee member, who jointly presided over the proceedings. Gurram Vijaykumar of the CPI(ML) also spoke.

BJP stand decried

The speakers highlighted the role of the Communist Party and the armed struggle led by it in liberating the region from the oppressive rule of the Nizam. They ridiculed the "new-found" love of the BJP for the Telangana armed struggle and decried the attempts to portray it as a struggle of Hindus against a Muslim ruler.

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