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.