JP forced to suspend yatra

• JP refuses to raise ‘Jai Samaikyandhra’ slogan
• Pandemonium at round-table meet in Anantapur
• JP flays Cong for throwing the state into turmoil
• Demands justice to Seemandhra if state is divided, and to T if the state is kept united

Anantapur: A day after launching his ‘Telugu Tejam Yatra’ in Kurnool district to urge people to shun agitational path and focus on development issues and also to forge amity between people of all regions, Lok Satta national president Dr Jayaprakash Narayana was forced to postpone his Yatra here on Sunday after his meeting was disrupted by Samaikyandhra proponents. Pandemonium prevailed at the round-table conference presided over by him as united AP protagonists wanted him to support their cause and raise ‘Jai Samaikyandhra’ slogans.

The efforts of JP to reason with them failed and he was forced to defer the ‘yatra’ which began in the district in the morning. The yatra witnessed dramatic scenes and severe tension. The trouble arose on Sunday after some protesters staged a demonstration before the venue of the roundtable since morning. They raised ‘JP go back’ slogans and blocked his entry. He was, however, able to gain entry with police help. At the conference, he was urged to utter ‘Jai Samaikyandhra’ before the commencement of the meeting. Amid the din, the participants boycotted the meeting.

Later addressing a press conference, Jayaprakash Narayan accused the Congress party of causing turmoil in the state “just for the sake of votes and seats.” He said if the state was divided, justice should be done to the Seemandhra region; and if it remained united, justice should be done to Telangana. JP maintained that it was not his party’s policy to hold meetings in the midst of agitations and police presence.

Hence, he was postponing the yatra. He wanted a Joint Parliamentary Committee to be constituted in place of the A K Antony panel to find a solution to the statehood issue. He accused some Delhi politicians of ‘conspiring’ to divide the state for their selfish ends, while posing a question whether the Centre could divide Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and UP. JP pointed out that some parties in the state had given their consent letters favouring Telangana ‘for votes and seats’ .

He said the fact that the Samaikyandhra agitation was continuing for 46 days showed its severity. “It is a voluntary movement by the people, without any link to politics.” He favoured a solution acceptable to all, at least now after considering the people’s emotional reactions in the two regions.