Tension prevailed at Vidyut Soudha here on Wednesday when police prevented TRS leaders KT Rama Rao, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Jupally Prabhakar and TJAC chairman Kodandaram from entering the premises to express solidarity with Telangana Electricity Employees JAC coordinator K Raghu, who was on a hunger strike since Monday.
After an argument, police relented and let in the leaders, who persuaded Raghu to end the fast. The JAC leader sat on fast alleging anti-social elements entered the Seemandhra agitation to trip electricity sub-stations and collapse the Southern grid which supplies power to the whole of Southern India.
KT Rama Rao, who was stopped at the entrance, questioned the intent of the state government, which is deliberately thwarting the peaceful protests of Telangana people. “When Jagan Mohan Reddy sits on fast, the government is actively bringing people from Seemandhra to support his cause,” he said.
He also hit out at TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who is fasting in New Delhi over the UPA’s handling of the Telangana issue. “When Naidu is fasting in AP Bhavan, nobody is bothered. But when Yadi Reddy, a Telangana martyr, died, his body was not allowed to be kept there for a minute,” he said.
The TRS leader said the ongoing agitation in Seemandhra is another tactic to hit at the Telangana farming community as they are unable to get at least three hours of power a day.
TJAC chairman Kodandaram said it is common knowledge as to who are behind this agitation in Seemandhra. “In my personal opinion, although the Centre has taken the consensus of all the stakeholders on the issue, it may have failed to assess the situation in the state,” he added.
Earlier, Telangana Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar who paid a visit to Raghu, questioned the role of the police and the government when government properties were ransacked.
“Even Seemandhra has to be developed and people should not get trapped by deceptive politicians and should immediately call off their strike,” he said.