The Hindu : Front Page : Congress hits back at Grand Alliance

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Sunday, Apr 19, 2009
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Congress hits back at Grand Alliance

HYDERABAD: The Congress party went on the offensive against leaders of Grand Alliance for their attack on Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy’s remarks that people of Andhra region would become ‘aliens’ in Hyderabad if the ‘mahakootami’ came to power.

Dr. Reddy himself led the charge by asserting that he had neither breached the election code nor opposed separate Telangana. He had only highlighted the hate speeches of TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao about closing down educational institutions run by Andhras in Telangana and their tirade against restaurants serving ‘Andhra meals’. To buttress his point, he played audio CDs of KCR’s speeches at a press conference in Guntur.

Taking the cue, Congress leaders challenged the Grand Alliance partners to make KCR spell out his stand on irrigation projects, by holding public meetings in Andhra and Rayalaseema. This was a strategic move by the party to target the TRS leadership’s opposition to Polavaram, Pulichintala and Pothireddypadu projects.

Rejecting the criticism of Dr. Reddy by some party seniors, AICC general secretary Vayalar Ravi gave a clean chit to the Chief Minister when he stated at a press conference that there was nothing controversial in his observations. “Dr. Reddy only referred to the threats held out by KCR against the people of Andhra and Rayalaseema,” he said.

Stating that he talked to Dr. Reddy, Mr. Ravi said the Chief Minister had put forward a political argument, which was reasonable, but was misunderstood by Congress leaders from Telangana.

Housing Minister Botcha Satyanarayana backed Dr. Reddy and said the Grand Alliance owed an answer to the people of the two regions on the stand taken by the TRS on irrigation projects.

Congress Legislature Party criticised the alliance for not inviting KCR for campaigning in other regions. AICC secretary P. Sudhakar Reddy said: “G. Venkataswamy praised the Chief Minister when the latter came to campaign for his two sons. Now, he is blaming him. Is it justified?”

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