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'It's a total betrayal. We'll decimate the Congress' (Interview with K. Chandrasekhara Rao)

'It's a total betrayal. We'll decimate the Congress' (Interview with K. Chandrasekhara Rao)

Author:
Publication: Tehelka
Date: March 15, 2008
URL: http://www.tehelka.com/story_main38.asp?filename=Ne150308its_a_total.asp

Telangana champion K. Chandrasekhara Rao tells SHANTANU GUHA RAY allying with the Congress was a painful mistake

Q.: What prompted this spate of resignations?
A.: Good question. But I am a little tired of answering this one. I feel cheated, really cheated by the Congress and the UPA. Please remember that the Telengana issue is not a figment of a child's imagination. Telengana was a prosperous state. When India was reeling under famine, our surplus was Rs 63 crore. When the state reorganisation commission started its work, Justice Fazal Ali categorically recommended the formation of a Telengana state. That was more than five decades ago and we still haven't got what we were promised.

Q.: Would you call it a complete betrayal?
A.: Absolutely. There have been countless agitations, violence and deaths in the region over the demand and I still do not know why no one's listening. Remember the agitation in 1969 when more than 400 students died in police firing and thousands suffered injures? Life came to standstill in the region for more than a year and a half. I would like to remind you that the agitation was spearheaded by the Telengana Praja Samity (TPS). Then came the 1972 elections when the entire nation was swept by the Indira Gandhi wave. TPS bagged 11 out of 14 seats from the region that year. Even then, the mandate was dishonoured. In 2001, the Congress once again approached us to join hands, ostensibly because the party was reduced to a shambles in the state by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). We joined hands, routed the TDP and see what happened next. What do they expect me to do now? Drown myself?

Q.: You are being impractical.
A.: I have every reason to be. Please understand my point. This is a very, very old agitation and the entire nation agrees this state must be carved out. The NDA agrees, the CPI agrees, Mayawati agrees, Laloo agrees, even the CPM agrees. I am sure even the Congress agrees. Yet, they will not move an inch on it.

Q.: Who's the devil of the show?
A.: There are many. But I would say the man who has single handedly destroyed our ambition is YS Rajashekara Reddy. He has told the Congress that Telengana should not be recognised. He is spreading this big rumour about the Telengana region being the hub of Naxalites. It is nonsense, utter nonsense. If Telangana had been created in 1969, this so-called Naxalism would have vanished from the region. More than 4,000 farmers have committed suicide ever since YSR took charge. Large chunks of Andhra Pradesh are reeling under starvation. He is making Naxalism an issue only to frighten the public and water down the Telangana demand. He has pushed us back into a crisis zone.

Q.: So nothing can be done now?
A.: I think we have co-operated to the maximum extent. I resigned and have been a minister without portfolio for more than seven months. But then, who cares about a minister without a portfolio?

Q.: Did you meet Sonia, Manmohan Singh?
A.: I have met her more than a hundred times and I must have met the prime minister more than 150 times. They all sympathise with us and then go back on their word. In short, they are just not interested in creating Telengana. This is nothing but total betrayal. They need to understand that in coalition politics you have to address the concerns of your ally.

Q.: What do you want to do now?
A.: We have resigned, 23 of us: four MPs, 16 MLAs and three MLCs. We will take the agitation back to Andhra Pradesh and decimate the Congress in the next elections. Let the elections happen, the Congress will gasp for breath in Andhra.


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