Senior Congress leaders from the Telengana region of Andhra pradesh have demanded a separate Telengana Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC). The demand for a separate Telangana has often been used as a weapon in internecine political battles and this demand could be in the same vein.
Some of those who raised the demand have been close to former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao. The APCC, elected earlier this summer, is dominated by supporters of K Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy, who is aligned with party president Sitaram Kesri.
We are planning to meet AICC president Sitaram Kesri by the month-end and put forth our demand for a separate Telengana PCC as a prelude to achieve the long-pending demand for a separate state, a group of veteran Congress leaders including former ministers A Madan Mohan, K Jana Reddy and former speaker G Naryana Rao said yesterday. They attacked some Congress leaders from the (coastal) Andhra region, including former Chief Minister Nadendla Bhaskar Rao, who have strongly opposed a separate Telengana state. Madan Mohan said leaders from Andhra have no locus standi to join the issue of Telengana. It is the birth right, prerogative and political privilege of Telengana people to demand for a separate state.
Naryana Rao said that they would urge the party high command to constitute a separate Telengana PCC within three months. And they would meet President K R Naryanan and Prime Minister I K Gujral by this month-end to press for the creation of a separate Telengana state within six months.
The Congress leaders justified their demand for a separate state in view of the stepmotherly treatment meted out to it in all spheres by successive governments.
According to APCC leader K R Amos, who was present at the conference, 90 per cent of the private industries in the Telengana region were being set up by persons from Andhra by relying and exploiting local resources and subsidies.
However, he regretted that out of 1.60 lakh vacancies in Ranga Reddy district alone 1.16 lakh jobs were given to non-locals. Not a single irrigation, industrial or power projects was taken up in the backward Telangana region while the catchment area under Krishna and Godavari falls under Telengana area (69 per cent) the water is diverted elswhere, he added.
The congress leaders contended that their demand for a separate state was not for the first time and cited agitations launched in 1962, 1969 and 1992 when Congress was in power in the state.
