Gade dubs Telangana as conspiracy to divide Telugus

Hyderabad, August 22 : Former minister Gade Venkat Reddy on Thursday said that the people of Andhra Pradesh would not allow some political leaders to divide the Telugus in the name of Telangana formation.

Talking to reporters in the Assembly premises here, Venkat Reddy said that the Telangana demand was a conspiracy to divide Telugus across the world. However, he said that such conspiracies would never be successful and would be defeated by the people. He described the on-going Samaikhyandhra movement in Seemandhra region as people’s movement.

Venkat Reddy said that several prominent leaders from Telangana including former chief minister Marri Chenna Reddy though raised the demand for Telangana, but they maintained silence later in the wider interest of the Telugu people. He said that the division of State would badly hit the identity and power of Telugus, not only in the country, but across the world.

The former minister demanded that the Centre maintain status quo of Andhra Pradesh by implementing the Chapter VI of the Srikrishna Committee. He said that Hyderabad belongs to people of three regions and could not be given just to the Telangana region.

Venkat Reddy questioned the authority of Congress Working Committee and UPA Coordination Committee in taking a decision to divide the State. He said that the UPA is the representative body of political parties from different parts of the country. He said people from Kashmir, Rajasthan or Madhya Pradesh could not decide the fate of Telugus. He said that the CWC or UPA did not take into consideration the opinion of people from Seemandhra region.

The Congress MLA claimed that except Telangana Rashtra Samithi, no other political party fully supported the demand for formation of Telangana State. INN