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Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its local electoral ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had tried to stall the process for creation of Telangana state with all their might in the last minute.
Addressing her first election rally in Telangana at Karimnagar town, about 170 km from here, she reminded the people of the last minute developments that unfolded in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill in February this year.
“We travelled a long and arduous journey to reach the destination of Telangana statehood. It was we who brought the Telangana Bill and it was we who got it passed in Parliament. No one else would have made it possible other than the Congress party,” she said to the cheering crowd.
Justifying the party’s stand on the state bifurcation, Sonia said the Congress was determined to give Telangana state to meet the democratic aspirations of the people as well as to bring social justice in the region. She acknowledged the role of youth and other sections who took part in the separate statehood movement culminating into the birth of Telangana state.
She acknowledged the delay in granting the statehood and said it took time to build consensus among the parties and leaders before getting into action. “Both Telangana and Seemandhra have equal place in my heart. We will not disappoint anyone. The party will fulfil all the promises made to each region during the process,”she said.
She said the people of the region always stood for secular values, and added they must stay alert on divisive forces “While the Congress party tries to unite all the people, listens to everyone’s issues, the BJP tries to divide the people. It is unfortunate that the TDP has now joined hands with such a party,” she said. She urged the people of Telangana to vote for the Congress while stating it was the only party that could bring development through the path of social justice and peace.
Sonia promised to announce Pranahita-Chevella, a large irrigation project in the Telangana region, as a national project if voted back to power besides setting up a 4,000-Mw thermal power project among other things.
