“While the resolutions sent by Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra seeking bifurcation of their states have been pending for a long time, the Congress-led UPA government is in a hurry to divide Andhra Pradesh unilaterally without giving a chance to the assembly to adopt a resolution though 75 % of the people are in favour of a united state,” party senior leader Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy told reporters here on Wednesday.

The division process has gained momentum at a time when Congress performance is dismal in the state and is on the brink of utter defeat due to its anti-people policies. It has whipped up regional passions and is trying to gain sympathy from a region and win a few seats in the next elections by dividing the state.

“We demand that the undemocratic process of bifurcation should be stopped and the Centre should review its decision immediately as it goes against the interests of the people” he demanded.

UPA is redefining democracy by its dictatorial approach without taking assembly into confidence and racing at breakneck speed to wade through the process of division with GoM and other Committees working hard to bring out the draft Bill and send it to President, Mekapati remarked.

“In normal case, two months or more would be given for the assembly but here reports say that the time would be limited to 10 to 15 days to enable the Bill to be tabled in Parliament before December 20, the last day of the winter session,” Mekapati stated.

Chief Minister and Union Ministers from the State are speaking in different tones and singing different tunes and it is high time for them to prove their sincerity and move towards stalling the division. It is not mere statements, but they should act and show the people that they are committed for the cause of a united State. “They did not give the actual report depicting ground reality and were only carrying out orders of the high command and are very submissive to Delhi,” he said.

“Our party President Sri YS Jagan Mohan Reddy could convincingly put forth his contention before all national leaders the injustice that is happening in Andhra Pradesh and the way in which Centre is misusing article 3 and dividing the state without taking assembly and public representatives into confidence,” he said, adding that despite all the activity in Delhi, YSRCP is still confident that it can succeed in keeping the state united as the leaders of the national and regional parties were impressed on the injustice being done in the division and the gross misuse of Article 3.

“NCP leader and Union Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, who is also the chief of Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) and former BCCI president, has explained the demand for a united state in cricketing parlance.  Pawar said there were placards displaying the wish of the people to keep the state united during the recent one-day match between India and West Indies at Visakhapatnam,” Mekapati remarked and added: “The message has been loud and clear and in the open for the world to see.”

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s campaign against the Congress attitude in dividing the state was taken well by the national leaders and his contention that a resolution with two-third majority in the concerned assembly and both houses of parliament is a must to divide the state has become the discussing point for the political parties.

“We will overcome this phase,” he said and slammed the Rayal Telangana slogan contending that it is being floated to further create a wedge. “If local leaders are giving their nod, they are not sure of their political standing. They must have been carried away by false notions, but it is not in the interest of the people,’ he said.

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“The three-year term of Kiran Kumar Reddy is thickly dotted with Delhi trips only to please the high command and he had no concern for the common man as the governance has been totally paralyzed with the Chief Minister running between Delhi and his camp office to safeguard his position and being subservient to the high command,” party spokesperson Roja told reporters here on Monday.

The tall claims by Kiran Kumar Reddy on the welfare schemes he has been carrying out for the past three years has neither any basis nor acceptability. He has renamed some of the YSR schemes and has failed to implement them. He has either shelved or diluted many other YSR schemes and has been a publicity monger spending more on advertisement as his function lacks substance and sincerity.

“Had the state government spent at least one per cent of the amount earmarked for publicity on the intended welfare schemes it would have served some purpose but that is not the case.

The bulky list of achievements of Krian Kumar Reddy government is full of hike of power charges, petrol, diesel, gas and bus fares, completely diluting Aarogyasri scheme by curtailing the number of aliments coming under its cover, puncturing the 104 and 108 services by not sanctioning grants to employees, imposing unreasonable restrictions on fees reimbursement and the like.

He has also been the centre of criticism for weeding out many names from the pensions list as widows and old people are put to hardships. He could not even complete the weaker section houses which were started by YSR, let alone building new ones.

His three year rule is reminiscent of the nine-year rule of N Chandrababu Naidu during which time all sections of the people, from farmers to anganwadi workers, were unhappy and in were distress.

His Rs 1-a-kg rice scheme was a derivative of YSR poll promise of increasing 10 kg rice to the poor but with a motive to burden the poor people by forcing them to buy the additional requirement from market unlike YSR’s promise.

The leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu, instead of highlighting the corruption charges of the Chief Minister and his inefficient governance has been supporting it and has become Congress party chief advisor to save his skin and to evade jail term, she said.

The chief minister along with Chandrababu Naidu has been busy in dividing the State and following the Delhi orders. The former wants to keep his seat in tact while the latter wanted the Centre save him from the corruption charges against him in lieu of saving the Congress Government.

Kiran Kumar Reddy is trying to project himself as a champion of the Samaikhya Andhra but has been carrying out all the high command orders to expedite the division of the state. The duo is responsible for the uncertainty in the State, she said.

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“Bigger states have always been the core cause for development and the public meeting to be addressed by our Party President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is aimed at bringing together all forces seeking a united stand and we believe that the State can remain united and prosper despite some of the Union Ministers, MPs and State leaders chickening out,” party senior leader Konathala Ramakrishna told reporters here on Saturday.

“We are confident that the state will not be separated despite hurdles being created by vested interests and the October 26th meeting will be the plank to rip open all apprehensions on the inevitability of the division of State and as our President YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has told earlier, all like-minded people, parties and organizations should come together at this hour of reckoning,” he said.

“We have seen in the past that development has superseded the separatist slogan and during YSR term, Telangana has prospered in agriculture, industry, education, medicare, housing and all fields. The mandate given to YSR-led Congress in 2009 is a sterling example of the theory that development negates separatism,” he said.

Some of the union ministers have met the Group of Ministers (GoM) and had given their proposals for package to Semmandhra which is like captain deserting the ship during crisis. “We have called to boycott the GoM. Only if the Cabinet note is withdrawn then there is a point in discussing with the GoM, otherwise it is playing into the hands of Congress,” he said.

The Union Ministers, Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu are working with a mission to expedite the division process taken up by the Centre, but our leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken a stand to fight for a united state and our stand will triumph finally, he said.

The 1969 and 1972 agitations have ushered in more development in the State which ranks third after Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh on the national scale in terms of GDP.

Nowhere in the history was a state bifurcated against the wish of the people. Senior BJP leader LK Advani had told the Parliament, way back in 2000, that an assembly resolution is needed to bifurcate any state while it was told to former MP A Narendra that the formation of Telangana is not possible on another occasion.

The then Union Home Minister P Chidrambaram had announced on December 9 that a resolution will be moved in the Assembly for carving out a separate state from Andhra Pradesh. There was an assembly resolution when three states were formed by NDA and when it comes to Andhra Pradesh the Centre is trying to move away from the established conviction for political gains.

When asked how YSRCP can be confident of keeping the State united when the division process is moving fast, he said, “in the first SRC (State Reorganisation Committee) it was mentioned that Vidarbha should be made a separate state but the proposal did not see light of the day. In the case of our State too there are issues which cannot be ignored,” he said.

“The unilateral and authoritarian attitude of the Centre and Congress strengthens our resolve more firmly to fight for a united State,” he said and appealed to all integrationists to make the October 26th Samaikhya Shankaravam a grand success. INN

Talking to reporters here, Naidu said that the Telangana issue was blown out of proportion by the Congress party and by having a tie-up with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi in 2004 elections, the Congress strengthened the sentiments of separatism to gain political mileage in future. He said that the Congress Working Committee took a decision in favour of Telangana only to gain political mileage.

The TDP leader also accused the YSR Congress party of enacting political dramas in Seemandhra region by supporting Samaikhyandhra. He said both Vijayamma and Sharmila supported separate Telangana during their meetings in Telangana region. However, now they are advocating Samaikhyandhra for political gains. He predicted that the YSRCP and TRS would eventually merge with the Congress party which has been making efforts to emerge as the ultimately beneficiary of Telangana issue. INN

Indra Karan joined the YSR Congress in December last year after he along with MLA Koneru Konappa met YSRCP President Jagan Mohan Reddy in Chanchalguda Jail on November 30. His entry into the YSRCP was of political prominence as he is backed by a strong cadre and clout. However, after the exit of senior leaders including Konda Surekha, KK Mahender Reddy, Jitta Bala Krishna Reddy and others, he too decided to quit the party.

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Addressing media persons at the party headquarters here, YSRCP spokesperson Vasireddy Padma said Naidu’s latest letter to the PM has been the result of his fear of being subjected to the Seema Aandhra people’s anger over the division.

“Like a killer shedding tears over the body of a person killed by him, Naidu has been shedding crocodile tears over the concerns of the Seema Andhra people after allowing the division of the state through his letter in favour of Telangana,” she said, adding Naidu’s action has exposed his true colours as a real opportunist. Naidu stabbed NTR then and the people now, she added.

By writing to Pranab Mukherjee in 2008 along with TDP’s resolution in favour of Telangana and asking the Centre to convene an all-party meeting in 2012 on the issue, Naidu gave a blank cheque to the Centre to create Telangana, she said, adding Naidu has been changing his colours like a chameleon on the T issue.

She said Naidu, like all other Congress leaders including CM Kiran Kumar, kept silent knowing full well that Congress leadership was going to announce the creation of Telangana state.

“Soon after CWC announcement, he had also welcomed the formation of T state and also demanded Rs.4 to 5 lakh crores for the construction of the capital city for Seema Andhra. And, when APNGOs and Seema Andhra employees of the Secretariat met him, he had refused to take back his support to the creation of Telangana,” she said, adding that Naidu was speaking now as if he woke up from a deep slumber just now.

Pointing out that all Congress and TDP leaders including Naidu and CM Kiran Kumar are now raising the issues such as sharing of water, power, employment and other natural resources and the status of Hyderabad which were raised by YSRCP first, Padma said if only Naidu had taken up the issues then, this situation would not have arisen.

“From the very beginning, YSRCP has been asking Congress to reveal its stance first on the issue. Soon after the news of imminent division spread, YSRCP MLAs wrote to Union Home Minister Shinde raising all these issues.

We have asked him to come out with proposals acceptable to all and discuss the same with all concerned stakeholders before taking a final decision on Telangana, she said. “This is what we said at the all party meeting also in 2012,” she said, adding that YSRCP MLAs quit anticipating this injustice being done to the Seema Andhra area.

Padma observed that Naidu has been talking of the Seema Andhra people’s concerns ten days after they had launched their agitation bitten by the betrayal by Naidu and Congress ministers.

“People feel Naidu and the Congress Ministers have cheated them. Both Congress and TDP are parties of betrayal. They have no right to talk about the problems and concerns of Seema Andhra people now,” she said.

Naidu knows he will be subjected to the anger of the Seema Andhra people and hence his high level drama of letter to the PM, she said observing, Naidu’s actual vision is ‘Division 420 and not Vision 2020’.

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Accompanied with her mother YS Vijayamma and other party leaders, Sharmila unveiled the statue of her father and late Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy to mark the occasion. It was at Ichapuram that YSR had concluded his Praja Prasthanam padayatra before 2004 elections.

Shramila started her padayatra at Idupulapaya in YSR district on October 18. She has walked for over 3,112 kms in 230 days spanning 116 constituencies. She toured as many as 14 districts including Kadapa, Anantapur, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, Nalgonda, Khammam, East Godavari, West Godavari and Vizianganaram.

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The YSR Congres party asked Naidu to state why Chandrababu, who earlier moved a No Confidence Motion against late Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was now backing the Kiran Kumar Reddy government.

Reminding that Naidu had opposed Kiran as Speaker during the YSR regime, the YSRCP questioned why he felt that Kiran is now eligible as Chief Minister. The party also questioned why Naidu was not demanding by-elections for the constituencies of the disqualified MLAs. It also questioned why he was also not demanding the government to hold the local body polls.

YSR Congress party also questioned why Telugu Desam was afraid of demanding elections for Municipalities, Mandals, ZPs and Panchayats in that order. The party questioned why Naidu was saving the government though he was stating that the Chief Minister and his brother were corrupt. “If the Chief Minister and his brother were corrupt, why have you not complaining to the Governor or some other constitutional body”, the party questioned.

The letter also questioned why Naidu was not replying to charges being made by the Chief Minister against him. The party also demanded that Chandrababu to state why he was not objecting to the Chief Minister and the PCC chief having their own channels, while he was talking about Jaganmohan’s newspaper and TV channel.

The YSR Congress asked for answers on the above questionnaire to prove his political uprightness and let people know why he had hidden agenda with Kiran Kumar Reddy and also Congress party. INN