The Telugu Desam Party and YSR Congress Party leaders intensifying the agitation against proposed formation of Telangana State, organised cooking on National Highway No.9 and all agitators squatted on the road having their lunch on Thursday.
Former Pedana MLA and YSRC Party leader Jogi Ramesh organised ‘Vanta Varpu’ programme as part of the ongoing Samaikyandhra agitation at the Ibrahimpatnam Circle. Thousands of vehicles were stranded at the circle as the YSRC activists and supporters blocked the flow of vehicle from three sides: Mylavaram, Eluru and Hyderabad.
While the cooking was symbolic in nature, as cooked food was served to the participants squatting on the NH, the activists were able to block the traffic on the busy highway for about 45 minutes, but there was no untoward incident.
Addressing the media after the programme, Mr. Ramesh said that the Congress and the TDP had joined hands to betray the sentiments of Telugu people. Unleashing a verbal attack on TDP supremo N. Chandrababu Naidu, he said that Mr. Naidu had lost the right to speak on behalf of Telugu people.
He pointed out that if the state was to be bifurcated, the coastal regions will not receive a single drop of water, as Telangana people will block water in both Krishna and Godavari in the upstream areas. KCR is a not a leader who could be trusted, he alleged.
At Gollapudi on the city outskirts, Mylavaram MLA and TDP Krishna District president Devineni Umamaheswar Rao also staged a ‘Vanta Varpu’ programme near the NTR statue. The TDP leader said that the party’s founder always advocated the cause of a united Andhra Pradesh and party leaders in this region will abide by it.
Accusing the Congress Party of playing the game, he questioned “What will people like Ahmed Patel, Digvijay Singh or for that matter Sonia Gandhi understand the sentiments of Telugu people and the repercussions involved in the breaking up of the State. We shall continue our agitation till the Congress Party reverses its decision.”
When reporters asked him whether he was getting the required support from the TDP president, as the party towed a differed line, in a non-committal way he observed, “Samaikyandhra is my heartbeat and Seemandhra is my heart.” He also performed abhishekam with milk on the NTR statue.
