Seething with resentment over what they felt was the Core Committee’s one-sided decision to create separate Telangana, Ministers from Seemandhra on Friday warned the party leadership that they would take tough decision if their plea against division of the State was ignored.
They dashed off a letter party chief Sonia Gandhi conveying their strong feelings after a meeting of a large contingent of State Ministers, Union Ministers and MPs at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan. Several leaders wanted Union Ministers to take the mantle of convincing the high command against bifurcation of the State and criticised them for not doing enough for protecting the interests of Seemandhra people. The 90-minute long meeting entrusted to Union Ministers K. S. Rao, K. Chiranjeevi and M. M. Pallam Raju the responsibility of handing over the letter to Ms. Gandhi. In their letter, the leaders recalled how Andhra Pradesh was created in 1956 when Jawaharlal Nehru was the Prime Minister and how Indira Gandhi had strongly opposed bifurcation in 1969. Even Rajiv Gandhi was always against division, they pointed out, and urged Ms. Sonia Gandhi not to take the blame for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. They pointed out that if Telangana was created without consulting them, they would be forced to take certain hard decisions. “The impression we get after coming here is that the high command has taken a decision in favour of Telangana. We want to put as much pressure as we can to see that the high command reconsiders its move,” a senior Minister told The Hindu from New Delhi.
“It’s all speculation”
Talking to reporters, Minister for School Education S. Sailajanath expressed the hope that the Centre would not take a decision without considering the party’s fate in Seemandhra. Minister for Municipal Administration Maheedhar Reddy said that the Ministers were still hopeful that that State would remain united.
Dr. Sailajanath claimed that the talk of division was mere speculation. “If the high command indeed decides in favour of a separate State, we will hold a broadbased meeting of MLAs and MLCs to decide the future course of action,” he said.
