Leaders of Telugu Desam called upon party workers to effectively counter what they called “ploy of the Congress to keep the TDP out of power” by squarely blaming party president N. Chandrababu Naidu for giving his consent to the division of the State.
At a meeting organised by the party here on Friday, senior leader P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who resigned as MLA, said: “When the decision to bifurcate the State was announced by the Congress, I was in Hyderabad. We (MLA s) resigned in protest against the decision. But it was a big drama on the part of Congress MLAs. While some submitted their resignations to Digvijay Singh, some to PCC President Botcha Satyanarayana and others gave it to the Chief Minister. After coming out they showed copies of their resignations to the media.”
He expressed the view that the Congress, which once upon a time had stalwarts as leaders who kept the interests of the State and nation uppermost in their minds, has been reduced to those who want to cling on to power at any cost.
The PCC President nurtured a desire to become Chief Minister and favoured division of the State.
Referring to the Justice Sri Krishna Committee Report, he said that its report was kept a secret to this day. A part of the report was made available on the Internet but most of the questions raised by the committee remained unanswered to this day. Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju said that 75 per cent of the revenue of AP was being generated by Hyderabad city and if it was merged in Telangana, the revenue would go up to 83 per cent.
This would leave only 17 per cent revenue for Seemandhra.
Former Minister Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy and MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu put the blame squarely on former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy for raking up the Telangana issue in 1999 with the sole objective of defeating the TDP.
After winning, YSR said that there was no need to give Telangana.
Party leader Gudiwada Nagamani felt that at least one member from each family should come out and join the Samaikyandhra movement to keep the State united.
Similarly, all political parties should work jointly to achieve the common goal.
Former MLAs R.S.D.P. Appala Narasimha Raju and P.V.G.R. Naidu (Gana Babu), TDP Urban district president Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, senior party leader Majji Sundaram Patrudu, party leaders Harshavardhan were among those who spoke.
Later, a torch rally was taken out by TDP leaders and activists for Samaikyandhra.