The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : Congress’ “silence” on Hyderabad questioned

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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Congress’ “silence” on Hyderabad questioned

Special Correspondent

TDP groups to finalise future course of action only after panel’s terms are known

VISAKHAPATNAM: Congress leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, on the Shah Rukh Khan issue, asserted that Mumbai belonged to all but why is the party not bothered to consider the demand of people of Andhra and Rayalaseema on Hyderabad, questioned senior Telugu Desam leader K. Yerran Naidu here on Friday.

People of Andhra have a lot of affinity with Hyderabad and helped in its development and some Congress leaders objecting to the students’ Joint Action Committee continuing its padayatra in Telangana region and planning to conduct a meeting was anti-Constitutional and action should be taken against them, he said at a press conference.

On the Sri Krishna committee and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram saying that it was an experiment, the TDP leader asked why the Union Minister wanted to experiment with Telugu people. “Why not Mr. Chidambaram do the experiments with his own State where there is demand for a separate State, or in Vidarbha or in UP or other States where people are seeking separate States?” Mr. Yerran Naidu asked.

Special Correspondent in Hyderabad adds: The two groups in the TDP, one in favour of separate Telangana and the other against it, have decided to finalise their future course of action only after the terms of reference of the Justice Srikrishna Commission were known.

The party leadership representing coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts has demanded that the terms be decided only after the commission discussed the draft proposals with all stakeholders. P. Keshav, an MLA belonging to this group, told mediapersons on Friday that he and his colleagues were trying to meet Justice Srikrishna to convey their viewpoint.

He described the commission as a preconceived step taken by the Central Government.

People’s aspirations

On the other hand, the TDP MLAs from Telangana demanded that the terms of the commission should reflect the aspirations of people of the region demanding separation. Their leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy said the commission would help restore peace if it was set a timeframe to complete the task.

He said the group will convince the party president N. Chandrababu Naidu to stick to the resolution that he approved in 2008 seeking separate Telangana. Mr. Reddy denied any pressure on them from Mr. Naidu to retract on the demand.

Another member of this group, E. Dayakar Rao, said they did not repose full faith in the commission to do them justice. He said their struggles were aimed at focusing on the ground situation in Telangana and had nothing to do with the party stand which, in any case, had not changed since 2008.

Meanwhile, TDP leader from coastal districts, Nannapaneni Rajakumari, said the party in her region would cooperate with the Srikrishna Commission if it proceeded in the right direction. She expected the panel to make a correct evaluation about development in both the regions before arriving at a decision.

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