Leaders Must Unite For Telangana Issue: TPJAC

Several senior political leaders, across party lines, have stressed the need for unity among the Telangana leaders to achieve the goal of statehood for the region.

Addressing the Aalaya Balaya programme near Jal Vihar on the banks of Hussainsagar lake on the occasion of Dassera festival on Thursday, political leaders admitted that discord among themselves was the main reason for the delay in the formation of Telangana. Speaking on the occasion, Telangana Political Joint Action Committee chairman Prof M Kodandaram said while the political leaders from the Seemandhra region were unitedly opposing Telangana, the leaders from the region were immersed in avoidable differences. He opined that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu were leading different parties, but they were the ones stalling Telangana.

Referring to the bifurcation of Bihar, Prof Kodandaram gave the example that the then Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav opposed the formation of the Jharkhand State. But he himself moved the resolution in Bihar Assembly following united struggle by the Jharkhand leaders. Stating that the people of Telangana were already united on the issue, he said that the unity among political leaders would ensure immediate formation of Telangana.

Congress MP G Vivek too stressed the need for unity among Telangana leaders. He said that when Congress MPs were suspended from the Parliament for raising Telangana issue, they were not supported by other parties or groups. Proposing a boycott of "Betrayers" of Telangana, he said that the leaders should stop speaking in different voices on the issue.

Nizamabad MP Madhu Yaskhi Goud said that the Telangana agitation was not limited to an individual or party. He said that all the parties and leaders were working towards the statehood goal. Therefore, he said that everyone should work in tandem till their goal of Telangana is achieved. He said that there should be a time-bound programme for the Telangana agitation.

For the first time in recent past, Telugu Desam Telangana Forum convener Errabelli Dayakar Rao shared the same platform with other leaders. However, as soon as he started his speech he was greeted by some anonymous people in the crowd with slogans of Telangana Betrayers Down Down. Ignoring the slogans, he started his speech stating that all TDP leaders from the region have been working for the cause of Telangana. However, continued slogan shouting disrupted his speech and he winded up in less than a minute.

Home Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy, former PCC President K Keshava Rao, BJP State president G Kishan Reddy, former union minister Ch Vidyasagar Rao, baladeer singer Gadar and leaders of different political parties participated in the Aalaya Balaya programme organised by senior BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreyya. (INN)