The Congress high command appears to be more or less in favour of a Rayala-Telangana state comprising Telangana and Kurnool and Anantapur districts of Rayalaseema region. The new state could be called Hyderabad State.
Former AICC incharge of state affairs, Gulam Nabi Azad, is continuing his efforts to convince leaders to accept this proposal as the party high command feels it is the most viable option. The Rayala Telangana proposal is being bitterly opposed by some of the Congress leaders from Telangana whereas there is moderate opposition from Rayalaseema. Particularly, leaders from Kadapa and Chittoor are against it.
Party MLA G Veerashiva Reddy, who is from Kadapa and a close aide of the chief minister, on Sunday rubbished the proposal and alleged that some party leaders from Kurnool and Anantapur districts had a tacit understanding with T-Congress leaders over this proposal to protect their assets in Hyderabad.
“Ministers TG Venkatesh and Erasu Prathap Reddy, and former minister JC Diwakar Reddy have already accepted Rayala-Telangana at the high command level. They are the real betrayers of our region as well as the United Andhra movement,” he alleged. TG Venkatesh denied it and said he was for a united state.
Former minister DL Ravindra Reddy,who hails from Kadapa district, on Sunday called on deputy chief minister C Damodara Rajanarasimha here and conveyed his opposition to the proposal. On the other hand, almost all opposition parties have started opposing the proposal to split Rayalaseema. The TRS on Sunday categorically stated it was against Rayala-Telangana. It made it clear that nothing short of Telangana with 10 districts and Hyderabad as its capital would be acceptable. The BJP has already stated that it was opposed to any move to split Rayalaseema.