A Rayalaseema people's conclave, organised by the Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samiti here on Sunday, demanded trifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into three states _ Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema _ in case the central government decided to carve out Telangana state. The day-long meeting, attended
by Rayalaseema settlers in Hyderabad, vowed to achieve Rayalaseema state and formed a Rayalaseema joint action committee (RJAC), on the lines of the
Telangana JAC, to spearhead
the movement for creation
of a Rayalaseema state.
The participants, who included
intellectuals and employees
of central and state
governments, took a serious
exception to the coining and
use of the compound word,
Seemandhra, to refer to the
two regions of Rayalaseema
and Andhra, saying the two
were distinct. They said they
were not ready to remain as
an appendage to a coastal
Andhra state and would prefer
to have their own state if
Telangana was going to be
created.
RPS president Byreddy
Rajasekhara Reddy, who is
also Telugu Desam general
secretary, declared that they
would take up an 800-kmlong
padayatra in the last
week of September from a
remote village in Kurnool
district. The padayatra is expected
to take about 40 days
to complete and will culminate
in a public meeting at
Anantapur on November 16
to coincide with the anniversary
of the signing of Sri
Bagh Pact between Andhra
and Rayalaseema leaders on
that day in 1937. At the public
meeting they would bring
to light the injustice that had
been done to the Rayalaseema
region in the united
Andhra Pradesh in last 60
years, he said.
Giving a call that Rayalaseema
Pourusham should
be made known to every one
at all levels, Reddy said people
would corner MLAs, MPs
and ministers if they refused
to support their demand for
a separate Rayalaseema
state. "Till now you have seen
the Telangana movement.
From now on, you will see
the Rayalaseema movement,"
he said and clamed
that the people of Rayalaseema
had as much right
as any one else had to live in
Hyderabad. He warned media
houses against portraying
Rayalaseema as a land of
factionalists.
MV Ramana Reddy, a senior
leader, said formation
of Telangana state seemed
imminent and the RJAC
should work for creation of
a Rayalaseema state. "This is
the right time to launch the
movement,'' he said.
K.Dileep Kumar, Telangana
leader and MLC, expressed
solidarity with the
Rayalaseema movement and
advised leaders of the Telangana
and Rayalaseem movements
to work in tandem to
achieve their goals. Several
government employees narrated
their sufferings experienced
in Hyderabad during
the Telangana movement.