HYDERABAD: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on Friday said that the creation of Telangana has only led to territorial division, but the people’s aspirations remained unfulfilled. Meira Kumar, who was the Speaker when the Telangana Bill was passed in the Lower House of Parliament, felicitated the families of Telangana martyrs after paying homage to the Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial at Gun Park and leading a rally to Gandhi Bhavan.
Later, addressing a public meeting, she said: “I am happy on one side and sad on the other. Happy because the Telangana dream was fulfilled, and sad because nothing has happened in the past nine years. One man, his family and near and dear ones are getting everything. Nothing concrete has happened for farmers, workers, who are the backbone of the country’s economy.”
“Neellu (water), Nidhulu (funds), Niyamakalu (employment), self-respect, independence, right to free speech eluded the people under the BRS rule. The very purpose for which Telangana was achieved has been defeated. Sonia and Rahul are also sad about what is happening in Telangana,” she said.
“Sonia Gandhi has heard the voices of Dalits, Adivasi, women and marginalised sections and granted Telangana. I would like to thank her for creating a separate State,” she added. The Congress leaders and cadre performed ‘paalabhishekam’ to the portraits of Sonia Gandhi in a thanksgiving gesture for creating Telangana State.
Meanwhile, taking a dig at Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, former TPCC chief and MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the State has just completed just nine years of its existence, but KCR is organising Telangana Rashtra Avatarana Dashabdi Utsavalu, which should be done after 10 years, only an eye on the upcoming Assembly elections.
AICC Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre, Nadeem Javed, Rohit Choudhury, Damodar Rajanarsimha, Ponnam Prabhakar, B Mahesh Kumar Goud, V Hanumantha Rao, and a host of other party leaders were present on the occasion.