YSRC president Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday made an appeal to Seemandhra legislators of all hues to come together and fight for Samaikyandhra.
“It is not too late yet. I appeal to all the Seemandhra legislators, regardless of which party they belong to, to come together and make concerted efforts to keep the state united,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said at a news conference at his Lotus Pond residence here.
The Kadapa MP said though they were only three in the Lok Sabha, they had done their best to stall the T-process, but the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which had more MPs moved in different direction. As a result, the effect was not as forceful as it should have been, he said.
Even in the state, the chief minister, who professes to be a Samaikyandhra champion, came out in his true colours by sending the T-bill to the Assembly without any delay. “The chief minister is a separatist in the garb of an integrationist,” he said and recalled how he had persuaded the Seemandhra employees to call off their strike.
He said on the day the T-bill was tabled in the Assembly, the chief minister was no where to be seen in the House and the same was the case with opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu. Even Speaker N Manohar could not make himself available and deputy speaker Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka had the bill tabled in the Assembly. “This all looks very strange,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
He said the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) met twice, but Chandrabbau Naidu did not find time to attend it though it was discussing the crucial issue of tabling the T-bill and facilitating a debate on it.
Jagan wanted all the Seemandhra MLAs to prepare affidavits to the effect that they are opposed to bifurcation of the state and submit them to President Pranab Mukherjee since the latter is in Hyderbad for his southern sojourn. “Let us rise above our political considerations and go as one team to the President,” Jagan Mohan Reddy said.
The YSRC supremo said he was committed to his statement that he would help whoever keeps the state united become the prime minister of the country. “I will fight till the end to keep the state united,” he said and pointed out that if the state is divided, Telugu people, the second largest linguistic group in the country, would break up into two. “AP’s is the third largest budget among states and if it gets divided, one state would slip to the eighth place and the other to the 13th place,” he argued.