Withdraw GO 177 Completely: Nagam

Demanding that the government withdraw the controversial GO 177 instead of just keeping it in abeyance, senior Telugu Desam Party leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy on Saturday said that he would keep up pressure on the Congress till this is done.

Talking to media persons at the TDLP on Saturday, Reddy said that he will remain focussed on two issues - the withdrawal of GO 177 and carrying forward the separate Telangana agitation.

Reddy further denied the veracity of newspaper reports which alleged that he had insisted that party president N Chandrababu Naidu make his stand clear on the Telangana issue before the latter campaigned for the TDP in Kadapa.

The senior TDP leader said that he was misquoted by a certain newspaper which has been targeting him for the past six months. He further said that the newspaper had deliberately twisted his statement and was trying to drive a wedge between the TDP leaders.

Janardhan Reddy stated that he had clearly said that he would prefer working for the Telangana state rather than campaign, but had never refused to electioneer.

"I had said that if the TDP does not make its stand on the Telangana statehood clear and Jaganmohan Reddy declares support for the separate statehood issue if he wins the by-polls, then he would walk away with the credit. To prevent this, I had suggested that it would be better to clarify the party stand on Telangana beforehand," the TDP MLA stated.

He further said that these words were not against the party and that he did not need to offer any explanation to Naidu, especially since he had done no wrong.

The senior leader added that he would embark on a bus yatra from Nagarkurnool, tentatively on May 9, along with other leaders from Telangana.

"The Yatra will be aimed at creating awareness among the people on the need for a separate state, and I am confident that all leaders from the region, from across the political spectrum, will be on board," he stated. (INN)