Former home minister Jana Reddy on Monday said that the Babli issue can and should be resolved peacefully as it is a matter of two states within the same country.
Talking to media persons, Jana Reddy pointed out that when India and Pakistan can peacefully solve the issue of water sharing despite being perpetually at odds with each other, then a solution to the Babli Irrigation Project can also be arrived at through negotiations.
The former home minister said that he condemned the arrest of Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu. He also described the measures adopted by Maharashtra water to control the situation arising out of the arrest as 'harsh'.
He condemned the lathi-charge of TDP supporters by Maharashtra police on Sunday as well.
The former home minister also alleged that the TDP president was politicising the Babli issue because of the ensuing by-elections to 12 assembly constituencies in Telangana Region.
When asked if the arrest and the subsequent protest would have any effect on the Congress party's chances in the by-elections, Jana Reddy said that this was highly unlikely.
He called on all parties, including the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, to fight alongside the Congress over the Babli issue and also for a separate Telangana state.
When the media questioned him over what guarantee the Congress offers that it would remain in such a forum since it had quit the Political Joint Action Committee after aligning with it for some time, Jana Reddy said that the Congress had to leave the JAC since the TRS Legislators had resigned from the assembly without any intimation.
He said that the TRS had tried to project itself as the true champion of the cause of a separate Telangana.
When media persons pointed out to him that the TRS is claiming that chances of a separate Telangana becoming a reality would be dealt a death-blow if it loses the by-elections, Jana Reddy said that this is improbable. He claimed that the Congress is the real force behind Telangana, and that it would fight on till a separate state is achieved.