All Parties Fought for Creation of Telangana: Gutha Sukender Reddy
No villains in statehood fight; Centre must keep its promises, he adds
Nalgonda: Telangana State Legislative Council chairman Gutha Sukender Reddy on Thursday dismissed the idea of “political villains” in the state. He said leaders across party lines fought together for the creation of Telangana.
In an informal talk with journalists at his camp office here, Sukender Reddy said the BRS strength in Parliament was only two MPs when the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill was introduced, yet “12 Congress MPs from Telangana fought for statehood, and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj lent strong support in the Lok Sabha.”
He pointed out that former chief minister and BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao had publicly acknowledged that Telangana might not have been realised without the initiative of then Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Sukender Reddy also credited Telangana ideologues Prof. K. Jayashankar and Prof. M. Kodandaram for their “crucial roles” in the agitation.
Reacting to BRS criticism that the Congress delayed its decision, he said that the Congress-led UPA government had to persuade 25 MPs from undivided Andhra Pradesh who opposed bifurcation. He said the process invariably took time.
Sukender Reddy also alleged discrimination by the Centre over the promised delimitation of Assembly constituencies in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. “The AP Reorganisation Act mandates two additional Assembly segments per Lok Sabha constituency in the new states, yet delimitation has been completed only in Jammu and Kashmir,” he said, calling on the Union government to honour the commitment to the Telugu-speaking states.
