Congress leaders on Monday accused TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao of insulting Dalit leaders by not allowing two MPs to address a public meeting coinciding with their joining the party.
Government Whip T. Jayaprakash Reddy lashed out at Mr. Chandrasekhara Rao stating that his promise of making a Dalit the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh was a hollow claim as he had denied MPs – Manda Jagannath and G.Vivek – the chance to speak at the public meeting organised at Nizam College on Sunday. He accused the TRS leader of trying to make money out of the movement by raking up sentiment.
He said by encouraging defections, the TRS leadership could not achieve a separate State.
Civil Supplies Minister D. Sridhar Babu questioned how KCR would achieve a separate Telangana when he was only concerned about seats and votes. He ridiculed the TRS chief for faulting AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad for setting a deadline. “Hasn’t KCR set enough deadlines for the Centre to announce the formation of Telangana?” he pointed out. He exuded confidence that the Centre would announce its decision on Telangana shortly. Dalit legislators – Labbi Venkataswamy, D.Rajeswar and M.S.Prabhakar Rao – derided the TRS chief for insulting the Dalits. They said the ill-treatment meted out to two MPs was an indication of the fate that would befall the Dalits if TRS came to power after a separate State was created.
