Pradesh Congress Committee president Botcha Satyanarayana on Monday justified the decision to append his signature to the petition sent by the Seemandhra Ministers and elected representatives urging the high command to reconsider its decision on bifurcation.
At a press conference, Mr. Satyanarayana said though he was the PCC chief, it should also be noted that he hailed from the Coastal Andhra region. “You cannot say that my self and Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy had defied the high command. It was our way of appealing to the high command to reconsider the decision,” he pointed out.
Asked whether it was right on the part of the Ministers to participate in the dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, the PCC chief said though he was not attending the programme, the leaders from the region were free to attend it.
He said that party leaders from the Seemandhra region had bowed to the popular sentiment prevailing in the region after the decision to divide the State and resigned their membership and ministerial berths.
“People may think it is going back on the promise made to the high command or deceiving, but leaders from the region had simply followed the popular sentiment seen throughout Seemandhra,” he said. The PCC chief said he was aware that the resignations of the Ministers may be construed as violating the oath they had taken when assuming charge. “Yes we agree that it is violation. But the Ministers had no other option but to resign and back the widespread agitation against bifurcation in all the 13 districts,” he said. He blamed the opposition parties for the present situation. In the 2009 elections, the Congress secured close to 39 per cent votes while the other parties got the remaining 61 per cent. “When all the other parties barring the CPI (M) and the MIM supported bifurcation, the Congress came out with its decision. How can the same parties now blame us for taking unilateral decision?” he asked.
He lashed out at the YSR Congress for trying to derive political mileage by tendering resignation to the Assembly membership. “This new party has not spelt out its stand but makes its MLAs from one region to resign. Is it justified on their part to accuse us of indecision? When we take a decision, this party cries foul,” he added.
