On a day when former PCC chief D Srinivas claimed Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will fall in line and implement the party’s Telangana decision, the latter once again batted for the cause of united Andhra Pradesh and gave ample indications that he was in no mood to make peace with the Congress high command.
Kiran made it clear he would stay on in his chair and exert pressure on the Centre as well as his party leadership to reconsider its decision to divide the State. “Quitting my post is not the solution. We have to debate the issue. We have to convince the people as to why the State should be united. We have to convince our high command,” he said.
The Chief Minister demanded that the Centre keep in abeyance any decision to go ahead with the formation of the new state. “No decision should be taken… surely, not before elections. By solving one problem, you cannot create a bigger problem,” he said in a series of interviews he gave to the national media on Monday.
“I have been saying that… party has taken a political decision, it is the Government of India which has to show solutions to the problems of the people before going ahead,” he stressed. Stating that his stand should not be construed as bias towards one region, he said he firmly believed progress was possible only when the State remained united.
Asked if he wanted to sacrifice his post, Kiran replied, “My chair is a very small sacrifice in front of people’s agitation. I am not permanent in this chair.” Acknowledging the Telangana sentiment, he said the solution to all problems both in Telangana and Seemandhra is a united Andhra Pradesh. He divulged that he had been trying to convince AICC president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.