Botcha differs with Kiran on Telangana-Naxal link

• CWC will meet before the end of the month
• Denies he had submitted only one report to the Core Committee
• Makes a strong plea for making Hyderabad joint capital for 25 years

Hyderabad: PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana differed with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who reportedly argued before the Congress Core Group that if the State was bifurcated, Naxalism would rear its head in the region once again. In an informal chat with the media on Wednesday, Botcha said the growth of Naxalism depends on how the administration was run. If the administration is good there will be no spurt in Naxal activities, he said. The problem was high in the State during the TDP regime due to the policies of the then government. "If a large State really checks extremism, why did Maoists attack the convoy of the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu," Botcha questioned. He said between 2000 and 2003, Andhra Pradesh had witnessed thousands of Maoist related incidents. But, after 2004, there have been only few minor incidents. Botcha recalled that Maoist-related violence had gradually come down after the Congress had come to power in 2004 in the State. Botcha exuded confidence that the Congress Working Committee will not resort to authorizing Sonia Gandhi to take a final decision on Telangana. The CWC, he said, will meet before the end of the month and will make a firm recommendation to the party, he added. He said he had gained this opinion after his talks with Digvijay Singh, S Jaipal Reddy and Ghulam Nabi Azad during his visit to Delhi recently. "There won't be any ambiguity in the decision. CWC will clinch the issue once and for all. It will pass a resolution saying Yes or No," he said. Botcha denied that he had submitted only one report to the Core Committee as was reported in a section of the media on Wednesday. He said he was asked to give two separate roadmaps explaining the challenges that would have to be faced in case of bifurcation of the State and if the State was kept united. He said though he was in favour of united Andhra, he had made it clear to the High Command that he would abide by whatever decision it takes on the issue. At the same time, he said he had made a strong plea for according the status of joint capital to Hyderabad for a period of 25 years in case the division of the State becomes inevitable.