Naidu: I stopped T during NDA rule

• Justifies agitation by Seemandhra people
• Promises to stand by the people till the end
• Blames Congress for dividing brothers
• Nails Kiran for allowing state to be divided
• Describes the CM as the pet dog of Sonia
• Also blames YSRCP for the present crisis

D Gopi

Pondugula (Guntur): Telugu Desam chief N Chandrababu Naidu here on Sunday justified the 32-day-long agitation by the Seemandhra people against division of the state. Addressing the huge gathering at the launch of his six-day bus yatra in Guntur district, Chandrababu Naidu targeted the ruling Congress and the YSR Congress for the present political crisis in the state. He also charged the Telangana Rastra Samithi with colluding with the Congress to divide the Telugu people. He said that the TD had helped Telugu-speaking people live like Ram–Lakshman who loved each other. However, he alleged that the Congress had made them like Bali–Sugreeva who hated each other. He asked the Telugu people to defeat the Congress and protect their integrity.

The TD chief said that the late N T Rama Rao had brought recognition for the Telugu-speaking people in the country who were till then called as Madrasis. Later, when he took over the reins, he said he had secured international recognition for the Telugu people and developed Hyderabad as an international destination. He said that people of all regions have set their hopes on Hyderabad for education and employment. However, the division decision had shattered their dreams for which the employees and students were now on the streets in Seemandhra region for the past 32 days, he said and justified their demands.

He took a dig at Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy for allowing the Congress to divide the State. Stating that the BJP too had promised division of the State in the past and the NDA government had proposed the division. However, he said he was able to convince the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to go back on the division and keep the state united. He also claimed that he was able to convince senior leaders of NDA like L K Advani to speak against division of Andhra Pradesh. He wondered by Kiran Kumar Reddy could not do it. He said that the Chief Minister had become the pet dog for the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and was not able to raise his head before her leading to the division of the state.

Chandrababu Naidu said that the Congress had lost the hopes of retaining power in the 2014 elections as every survey projected. Keeping this in view, the Congress had conspired with the TRS in Telangana and the YSR Congress in Seemandhra to divide the State. He alleged that the TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao was interested more in packages, while the YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy was waiting for bail. He said that the Congress had taken the decision to divide the state promising package for KCR and bail for Jaganmohan Reddy.

In return the Congress wanted to benefit in terms of votes or seats to retain power, he alleged. The TDP chief said that he was pained with the employees, students, teachers and general public agitating on the streets for the past 32 days and had come on to the streets to express his solidarity with them. He said that he would stay with them till their problems were addressed. He asked the UPA government to hold talks now with the representatives of the joint action committees on both sides, besides the employees, students and others and resolve the issue at the earliest.

He gave a pat on the back of his party MPs who were able to stall the proceedings of Parliament and thus make the nation listen to the problems of the Seemandhra people. He asserted that the Telugu people would be able to teach a lesson or two to the Congress leaders with this division proposal. He recalled how the Telugu people have taught a lesson to Indira Gandhi who removed NTR from power in 1984 and said that Sonia too would taste the ire of the Telugu people now.