The bifurcation of State, which looks imminent with Lok Sabha passing the AP Reorganisation Bill, has brought cheers among some quarters — Jai Andhra protagonists. Some felt that their voice for Andhra State was heard at least now, albeit by taking steps to create Telangana State. Welcoming the adoption of the Bill by Lok Sabha, they said that it would be passed in Rajya Sabha without any hurdles.
Former Minister Vasantha Nageswara Rao, who led Jai Andhra movement, welcomed the development. The Telanganites have achieved their goal. Now, Andhra people have to begin their exercise and start from the scratch. The capital should be developed between Vijayawada and Guntur. International airports, super speciality hospitals, industry, et al should come here. The Centre should help in that direction. The revenue of Hyderabad in 50s was Rs. 10,000 crore. Now, it touched Rs. 1 lakh crore. The Andhra State should get Rs. 55,000 crore out of the total revenue as per demographic equations, he said.
Senior advocate Karnati Rammohan Rao said that Andhra region would have marched ahead of many other cities had the government heeded to Jai Andhra demand. Vijayawada would have developed on par with Washington DC. The brain drain was heavy from Krishna and Guntur districts to US and other countries. They later invested in Hyderabad. Though the Andhra region lost 30 years, still there was time to progress, he said, adding, “High Court should be shifted to Andhra region. A High Court bench could be set up at Hyderabad. Though Guntur was chosen for High Court, it was shifted to Hyderabad then.”
Some others like Cherukuri Satyanarayana, popularly known as ‘Jai Andhra Satyam’, however, said it unfortunate event as the Bill was adopted from backdoor. The youth were agitated. A sense of negativism was prevailing in them.
And, there was no wonder if the division led to ‘internal war’ akin to LTTE. The people feel that why should they be part of India if their voice was not heard.
