Congress MPs R Anand Bhaskar and Palvai Govardhan Reddy strongly defended the Congress' decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to form Telangana.
Participating in a debate in Rajya Sabha on Monday, Bhaskar said that the division of Andhra Pradesh means self-respect for the people of Telangana. He said that Telangana people were not asking for any share in the natural resources, coastline, jobs (citing Visakha Steel as an example) or any other resources in Seemandhra, and that therefore, Seemandhra people too should not ask for any share in the Telangana region.
Bhaskar said that Hyderabad State, which was in existence till 1956, has generated its own electricity, stamp paper, currency, clinical laboratories and other resources before it became part of Andhra Pradesh.
He said that Seemandhra leaders are worried about their investments in SEZs and industries, and remarked that of nearly 80 lakh people in Hyderabad, nearly 20 lakh are living in 5,000 slums.
Citing examples of how people from Seemandhra and other parts of the country have settled in Hyderabad, he said all of them have been living in harmony and would continue to do so as now they all belong to Telangana.
Palvai Govardhan Reddy too defended the decision of the formation of a Telangana state. (INN)
filed in:Telangana, Seemandhra, Rajya Sabha, Congress MPs, R Anand Bhaskar