Chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy took considerable heat from his deputy during the long deliberations on the issue of giving permission to the Telangana March scheduled for Sunday.
When Telangana ministers met the CM on Friday to press him to give permission for the march, deputy chief minister Damodara Rajanarasimha let fly at his boss as well as the Congress high command for “belittling” the people of Telangana by making provocative statements in recent days.
Picking up a heated argument with the chief minister, Rajanarasimha reported by railed at the chief minister for saying that unanimity was needed among the three regions of the state on statehood for Telangana.
By erecting such an unattainable objective, he said, Kiran Kumar was mocking the aspirations of the hungry millions of Telangana
He went on to harangue the CM about the remarks made by AICC high commandos Vayalar Ravi and Azad in recent days.
“How could Ravi mock the people of the region by asking ‘where is Telangana?’ It was the Centre that promised separate statehood on Dec 9, 2009.
Now how can they go back on that?’’ the deputy is said to have asked.
The diatribe came as Telangana ministers tried to press Kiran Kumar to give permission for the Telangana march and the chief minister seemed reluctant to do so lest there be violence.
Citing Friday morning’s attack by Telangana supporters on a toll plaza at Shamshabad, Kiran Kumar is said to have expressed his reservations and insisted on a written assurance from the Telangana Joint Action Committee that the march would be peaceful.
Damodar Rajanarasimha’s harangue earned praise from senior Congress leader K Kesava Rao.