JSP will contest in all districts, says Vundavalli

On alliances, JSP is left with the option of tying up with the CPI(M), as it is the only party that opposed bifurcation.

Except for three or four districts, former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Jai Samaikyandhra Party (JSP) will field candidates for both Lok Sabha and Assembly, said party leader and former Member of Parliament Vundavalli Arun Kumar.

Participating at a meet-the-press programme here on Tuesday, he said the party was finalising the list. “We will field candidates in both Seemandhra and Telangana regions,” he said.

On alliances with like-minded parties, Mr. Arun Kumar pointed out that the only option left was tying up with the CPI(M), as it was the only party that opposed bifurcation.

On the relevance of the name, ‘Jai Samaikyandhra’, in the context of the appointed date for bifurcation being June 2, he said: “The fight for a united Andhra Pradesh is not yet over. We have approached the Supreme Court, and the court will shortly serve a notice to the government.”

He added that the fight for Samaikyandhra had just begun. “We have tried all methods, and now, it is time we revealed the truth to the people,” he said.

Holding out letters of assurances given by the TDP and the YSRC to the UPA, he said they had betrayed Telugu people.

Mr. Arun Kumar also showed the video footage depicting Modugula Venugopala Reddy MP being manhandled in the well of the Lok Sabha. “This video was blocked by the UPA government. It clearly showed how the MP was manhandled by MPs from Telangana when he tried to protest the placing of the A.P. Reorganisation Bill. It was at this juncture that Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajgopal rushed to the well and used pepper spray for self-defence,” he said.

Heaping praises on Kiran Kumar Reddy for rejecting the bill in the Assembly, he equated leaders of the party with martyrs Bhagat Singh and Udham Singh.