United AP in the interest of Rayalaseema: Reddy

Keeping Andhra Pradesh united is in the interest of Rayalaseema and the region should be clubbed with Telangana if a split becomes inevitable, senior Congress MLA J C Diwakar Reddy said today.

“Rayalaseema would be worst affected if the state is split. If division is inevitable, we (Rayalaseema) should be with Telangana. We are not going to benefit in any way if we are with coastal Andhra,” he said at a meeting of legislators from Rayalaseema.

Reddy felt that Rayalaseema will have to be dependent on Telangana for procuring water which may create trouble for the region in case of division.

Reddy, a former minister and a senior MLA in the ruling Congress, stressed the need to impress the Sri Krishna committee about keeping Andhra Pradesh united.

The meeting was attended mainly by legislators from ruling Congress and Praja Rajyam.

No hurdles, Andhra leaders warned

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has urged coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders not to create fresh obstructions to formation of a Telangana State.

Talking with reporters here today, he threatened to intensify the agitation across the region if coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders did not change their attitude and said they would be responsible for any untoward incidents.

He described Union Home Minister P Chidambaram’s statement on Telangana as a New Year gift for the people of Telangana and hoped that Telangana people would live in their own State in 2010. He said the Central Government had already started the process of forming Telangana State and made a categorical statement.

“A majority of political parties invited to the New Delhi meeting are supportive of statehood to Telangana,” he said and expressed confidence that the MIM would also support Telangana without creating any hurdles.

He advised coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders not to make fresh demands to scuttle formation of Telangana State which was in any way inevitable as per the Union Home Minister’s statement.

“It is not good for them to create obstructions and leaders and people of both the regions should agree to separation which is good for both the regions of the State.” A TRS delegation would attend the January 5 all-party meeting to explain the party’s argument on separate Telangana, Rao said.

Telangana is easier said than done

The demand for a separate Telangana state goes back several decades. Telangana is a region comprising 10 of Andhra Pradesh’s 23 districts.

A day after the Centre agreed to initiate the process for a separate state of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh plunged into turmoil with 120 MLAs and MPs of the Congress, TDP and Praja Rajyam Party submitting their resignations in protest against the bifurcation. As Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema erupted in fury, Chief Minister K Rosaiah said a resolution on Telangana would be moved in the state Assembly only if there was consensus among all parties — a clear indication that nothing was going to be done in a hurry.

“I don’t think the state will be divided immediately. The Union Home Minister said the process would be initiated which has been done but there are several stages in it. We have to consult political parties, people of different regions and then take a decision… If the need arises and a resolution is moved, it will be passed only if we get majority support,” Rosaiah said.

Angry MLAs of the Congress, TDP and PRP told Rosaiah that if he could go to New Delhi and return with a separate state, they were willing to sponsor “another return ticket” for him to “get back with four more states” because they wanted North Coastal Andhra, South Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Hyderabad as separate states.

Though Rosaiah tried to cool tempers by calling a meeting of MLAs in the Assembly Hall, they were in no mood to listen. “We are demanding that the Centre roll back the decision,” said Botcha Satyanarayana, MLA from Chipuripalle in Vizianagaram district.