Jagan meets Jaya, MK; seeks support

Chennai, Dec 4 : In his continuous pursuit to keep the State united and muster support for his cause of bringing together the democratic forces to thwart the Centre from misusing article 3, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and DMK leader M Karunandi here on Wednesday.

“I have met both leaders and explained to them in detail the need to amend article 3. They listened to me for over 45 minutes each and felt that it is an important issue to be addressed,” YS Jagan Mohan Reddy told media after the meeting.

During our interaction, I have told the two leaders that they should not see this as an issue of Andhra Pradesh alone but to rethink and voice their opinion and protect democracy. If leaders are quiet now, Andhra Pradesh will set a precedent and any party in power at the Centre with 272 MPs at their disposal can split any state according to its whims and fancies without taking the assembly into consideration.

“Since I have been going round the country and meeting national and regional party leaders and mobilizing their support to oppose article 3 which is being misused by the Centre, the Congress has brought in Rayal Telangana issue by adding two more districts from Rayalseema so that it can get a simple majority in the assembly. Congress has no clarity on what it is doing and wants to divide the state for the sake of votes and seats.

He dared the Centre to hold 2014 elections before taking any decision on the division. I stand for a united cause and let people give their mandate which will serve as a referendum. The State cannot be divided for the sake of political gains, the assembly and people’s sentiments should be taken into consideration, he said.

The division of the State is not healthy as there are contentious issues like the state capital and sharing of river waters.

When asked if he had discussed about any political alignments, Jagan said, “I am here for a far bigger cause. I am meeting everyone Left, BJP, NDA constituents to bring a consensus on the issue.”

“My Party has just three MPs in the Parliament. I am trying to consolidate people who stand for democratic principles and raise their voice when it is most needed. I need every voice that supports democracy to come forward,” he said.

When reminded that Prime Minster has said the Government is committed for Telangana, Jagan said, it is for the Parliament to decide. My exercise is to tell people how the article 3 is being misused and ask them to vociferously oppose the move.

The YSRCP President has earlier met, leaders of BJP, CPI, CPI(M), JD(U), BJD, Shiv Sena and others to mobilize opinion against the misuse of article 3 and the way in which Andhra Pradesh is being split without an assembly resolution. INN