The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of yielding to pressure by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in transferring seven mandals of Khammam district to that State.
After Mr. Naidu swore that he will not get sworn in as Chief Minister if the mandals were not merged with AP, Mr. Modi in his maiden Cabinet meeting took an anti-Telangana step in conceding Mr. Naidu’s demand, TRS deputy leader in the Lok Sabha B. Vinod Kumar said while presenting his party position on no-confidence motion in the lower House.
The transfer of the seven mandals was unjust and must be restored to Telangana. Similarly, the Sileru hydel project in Khammam district was also transferred to AP in an unjustified manner, he said.
Mr. Vinod Kumar demanded Congress president Rahul Gandhi to define special category status to AP which the latter promised if the party was returned to power in the Centre. He also owed an explanation whether incentives would also be extended to industries. In this context, he recalled that the Congress did not bother about interests of Telangana during separation of the State.
Referring to the failure of Centre to fulfill promises made to Telangana in the Bifurcation Act, he said not a step was taken to set up steel factory at Bayyaram in Khammam. There was also no development on establishment of tribal university though the State government had come forward to allot land for the purpose. The Andhra Pradesh government deliberately delayed construction of High Court in that State, as a result of which the court was not bifurcated yet. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had brought these issues to the notice of Mr. Modi on several occasions but to no avail.
Mr. Vinod Kumar insisted that the Telangana government had no objection to release of funds by the Centre for Polavaram project in AP but, he said, Kaleswaram project in Telangana must be accorded national status. He accused the BJP-led NDA government of failure to fulfill the aspirations of the people in its four-year rule.
He praised the Telangana government for implementing round-the-clock power supply to agriculture, a first in the country.
