Just two days ahead of the crucial Congress core committee meeting in New Delhi, where a decision is expected to be taken on the Telangana-issue, Rajahmundry MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar on Wednesday ruled out the possibility of formation of Telangana state without a consensus among the people of the three regions.
The MP, speaking at his regular annual meeting where he presents the “progress report”, took TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao and YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to task, while praising the late YSR and describing him as a man of integrity.
Vundavalli spent considerable time on nailing what he called the lies of KCR and said a state cannot be created just because someone was creating trouble.
“There has to be a well-researched scientific and logical basis for division of a state. If one yields to pressure and delivers a state, it would set a dangerous precedent for others who might raise voices for smaller states,” he said.
He called upon both MPs and MLAs not to resign because if they do the strength of bargaining in favour of united Andhra Pradesh would come down by that extent. If a separate state has to be created, it has to be done through an act of Parliament. “If a bill is introduced in Parliament let all of us voice our opinion clearly,” he said.
The MP made it clear that unless a resolution is passed in the Assembly a state cannot be created. Earlier this condition was not there, but during the rule of NDA, it had been made mandatory. The same BJP, which led NDA then, now states that Telangana state would created even if the people of other regions are opposed to it,” Arun Kumar pointed out. He said that if one was under the impression that a region would develop if its representatives are in power, then one is mistaken. “Since the formation of Andhra Pradesh till date, it was representatives of Rayalaseema who were the chief ministers for most part. Yet, Rayalaseema is the most backward region in the state,” he said.
Arun Kumar dared Chandrasekhar Rao to share a dais with him and present his argument as to how Telangana was exploited.
“It is not proper for KCR to call Seemandhra leaders liars and robbers. Let him come for a debate. I will nail all his lies because I have authentic information supported by statistics on allocation of water, construction of reservoirs and how much revenue the state got from which region,” Arun Kumar said.
Lashing out at Jagan Mohan Reddy for amassing wealth through questionable methods, he said in the process, he brought disrepute to his father the late YSR who was man of integrity and who held Congress president Sonia Gandhi in high esteem. Jagan Mohan Reddy used his father as a goose that lay golden eggs and in his eagerness to amass wealth, he killed the goose by damaging his reputation even when he was alive,” Arun Kumar said, adding that had YSR been alive today, Jagan Mohan Reddy would have sent him to jail, showing him as the one who had resorted to quid pro quo, and not him, Arunkumar said.