The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Uttarandhra leaders oppose division of State

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Oct 04, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Uttarandhra leaders oppose division of State

By Our Staff Reporter

VISAKHAPATNAM, OCT. 3. An integrated State of Andhra Pradesh with balanced development of all three regions without attachment of any strings is the need of the hour.

This was the sum and substance of a brainstorming discussion on the "Development of AP with particular reference to Uttarandhra,'' here at AMCOSA auditorium on Sunday. Delegates from different walks of life who attended the conference convened here by Visakha Vedika felt that there was no truth in the allegations levelled by Telangana leaders on their exploitation by coastal people.

The conference was declared open by the veteran freedom fighter, Gouthu Latchanna. The Visakhapatnam-I MLA, Dronamraju Satyanarayana, the BJP national council member, P.V. Chalapathi Rao, the former chairman of Bar Council of India, D.V. Subba Rao, the former MLAs, K. Haribabu and Pinninti Varalakshmi, the former Rector of Andhra University, A. Prasanna Kumar, the senior advocate, K. Srinivasa Rao and others attended.

`Political opportunism'

"Some disgruntled politicians of Telangana, right from the days of late Marri Channa Reddy have got into the habit of bashing coastal people whenever they are out of power or sidelined by the ruling party. K. Chandrasekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is the latest entrant in the blame game,'' said the former MP, Yelamanchili Sivaji, who was the brain behind the convention.

Reeling out figures from a hand-book of statistics compiled by the State Government, he said the coastal districts had been grossly neglected in comparison with other two regions by the powers-that-be.

Dr. Sivaji said the canard against coastal people should be rebutted as "otherwise the people of other States may take it to be factual.''

Six-point formula

The six-point formula evolved in the 1970s was aimed against the people of coastal region. It should be done away with. "We want an integrated State but there should be no pre-conditions and there should be no privileges for any particular region. There should be a level-playing field,'' he said.

Mr. Dronamraju Satyanarayana said Uttaranadhra was neglected in all fields by the powers-that-be compared with other regions. Projects like Polavaram and Jhanjhavati had not been grounded due to "power politics'' which saw Uttarandhra had still remained backward, he pointed out.

Referring to the circumstances under which Hyderabad was merged with Andhra Pradesh, the former Minister, Bhattam Srirama Murthy, said the merger was made after adopting a resolution in the Assembly. Hence, everyone should stick to it, he felt.

The former MP, P. Appalanarasimham, said that as the observer of the Telugu Desam Party to Medak district, he had reported to the party high command that Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao was turning into a disgruntled element as he was not happy with his appointment as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly. "Had he been given a ministerial berth, there would have been no demand for Telanagana now,'' he averred.

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