Damodar Rajanarasimha in Delhi for fresh lobbying

If chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is banking on a speech of Indira Gandhi made in 1969 to defend his claim that bifurcation of the state will harm the state, his deputy, C Damodar Rajanarasimha, is relying on the speech of Indira’s father Jawaharlal Nehru who had advocated de-merger of Andhra and Telangana in case they failed to continue as a single entity.

Armed with a detailed report, which advocates statehood for Telangana, Rajanarasimha landed in Delhi on Monday evening to undertake final lobbying at the AICC level for a T state.

Apart from meeting the AICC top brass, the deputy chief minister will also knock on the doors of members of the CWC and plead with them to take a decision granting statehood to Telangana at its meeting to be held before August 5.

According to sources, Rajanarasimha’s report carries the same argument he had put forward before the Congress core committee recently. His report says that those who opposed to state’s bifurcation are quoting the speech of Indira Gandhi. He asked his party high command to also consider the speech of Nehru made at the time of merger of Andhra and Telangana.

According to the report prepared by Rajanarasimha, Nehru, the then prime minister, expressed his views on the merger of Andhra and Telangana while speaking at a Bharat Sevak Samaj conference in Nizamabad in 1956. He said, “Ek masoom si bachchi ki shadi ek natkhat se ho rahi hai. Kuch din ke baad agar dono main kise vaje se nahi banti hai, tho talaq kabhi bhi de sakte hain.” (An innocent girl is being married off to a mischievous boy. If she is dissatisfied, she could seek separation any day.)

Apart from quoting the speech of Nehru, the deputy chief minister also cited the report of the Fazal Ali Commission which apprehended that Telangana could be converted into a colony by enterprising coastal Andhras if the two regions were merged to form Andhra Pradesh.

EXTREMISM: To counter the claim of the chief minister that division would pave the way for resurgence of Maoist movement, Rajanarasimha pointed out that Naxalism had taken its birth in the state in Srikakulam district, which is in Andhra. At the same time, he warned his party high command that failure to accord statehood to Telangana might give a new lease of life to extremism in the region.

The report also speaks about political repercussions and says that the common man in Andhra is not bothered about Telangana or Hyderabad. The only people who are opposing T-state are a small community of businessmen who have invested in and around Hyderabad.

SEEMANDHRA: Talking about the viability of a Seemandhra state, he said the region had assured irrigation, 10 natural ports, proven reserves of gas and petroleum, and a long coastline, and can easily sustain as a separate state.

Referring to revenue, the report says that by virtue of Hyderabad being the capital, many of the sales tax payers have their registered offices in the city and they pay their taxes in Hyderabad.

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