VIJAYAWADA: A day after YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy lashed out at the BJP-led Centre for allegedly neglecting Andhra Pradesh and not fulfilling the assurances made in the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an apparent bid to throw the blame on the Congress, which was in power when the united Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated.
Modi, who launched a no-holds-barred attack on the Congress in the Lok Sabha on Monday, continued the same in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday and raked up the bifurcation issue. He, however, asserted that he was not against the creation of Telangana.
Taking a broadside at the Congress for “repeatedly acting against federal spirit”, Modi, during the reply to the motion of thanks to President’s Address, said former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Tanguturi Anjaiah was dethroned just because the then Prime Minister’s son (Rajiv Gandhi) did not like the arrangements made to welcome him at the airport during one of his visits. Modi questioned which party destabilised the AP government when the then Chief Minister N T Rama Rao was ill.
“Andhra Pradesh (undivided) played an important role in the Congress forming government at the Centre, but the Congress divided the State in a hasty manner,’’ he said and added mikes were switched off and ‘mirchi’ (pepper) spray was used and there was no discussion during the passage of the bifurcation Bill.
The Prime Minister said the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government created three states — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand — without a fuss. “The three States were created in the most peaceful manner. Telangana should have been created the same way. The people should have been taken into confidence while bifurcating the State,’’ he said and added the “arrogance” and “greed for power” of the Congress resulted in such a hasty bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Modi added that the two States were suffering even today because of the manner in which the Congress bifurcated AP.
The Prime Minister’s reaction invited sharp reactions from the ruling TRS, and Congress in Telangana. However, the YSRC reacted in a guarded manner. “After almost eight years, the BJP is just blaming the Congress for all the sufferings of AP instead of doing justice to the State,’’ senior YSRC leader and MLA Malladi Vishnu said. He said both the Congress and BJP are blaming each other but both have failed to deliver justice to Andhra Pradesh. BJP MP GVL Narasimha Rao said both TRS and Congress have lost people’s confidence and they were criticising Modi only to attract media attention.
What Modi said
AP (undivided) played an important role in the Congress forming government at the Centre, but it divided the State in a hasty manner
Mikes were switched off and ‘mirchi’ (pepper) spray was used for the passage of bifurcation bill
There was no discussion during the passage of the bill
Telangana should have been created in a peaceful manner. The people should have been taken into confidence