Former State Road Transport Corporation Chairman and Telangana Congress leader Gone Prakash Rao on Thursday condemned the statements of Congress Working Committee member G Venkataswamy (kaka) linking Sonia Gandhi's leadership and Telangana state issue.
Talking to media persons at Public Gardens, he said that the CWC member had in the past cheated Telangana people using the agitation for political gains, and was now trying to hijack the issue for his personal gains.
Prakash Rao alleged that Venkataswamy, who had earlier aligned with the Telangana Praja Samithi formed in 1969 to press for a separate Telangana state, had cheated the Telangana people after getting benefits during former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's rule.
"Kaka is using the same trick again and linking his outburst with the statehood issue. No Telangana leader will believe in his statements, and he cannot cheat the people every time by raising the Telangana issue," he pointed out.
"All his family members benefited using the Telangana issue and minted crores of rupees," Prakash Rao stated. Prakash Rao pointed out that the creation of Telangana was a certainity, with only the date yet to be announced formally.
He described Kaka as a 'political broker' who would gladly mortgage Telangana's interests to anyone for his personal benefits.
The senior Congress leader, known for his support to former Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, termed the comments that Congress was losing its sheen under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi as baseless and unwarranted.