Kiran speak : T leaders slam; Seemandhra leaders defend

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's views opposing the bifurcation of the State have come in for sharp criticism from the protagonists of Telangana, while leaders from Seemandhra justified his remarks. While T leaders gave a point-by-point rebuttal of his objections to Telangana State creation, those from Seemandhra fully backed his stance and said the struggle will continue

For

MLA welcomes CM’s stand
Kadapa: Congress legislator Veerashiva Reddy welcomed the CM’s comments on Telangana as a good development (‘subaparimanamu’).

TRS misleading people: Thota
Rajanagaram: Minister Thota Narasimham has accused the TRS leaders of misleading the people on the situation in the State. At a press conference here on Friday, he defended the CM’s remarks on irrigation water and power as ‘true’(‘vastavalu’). He demanded merger of Bhadrachalam in East Godasvari district.

Centre should revisit T decision
Vuyyur: Minister K Parthasarathy pledged to fight against the Centre in support of ‘Samaikyandhra’. Speaking after visiting the Samaikyandhra relay hunger strike camp, he said the decision to divide the State was taken after the support extended by all parties. The Centre should ponder over the prevailing State situation and take an appropriate decision. Discussions should be held on the State’s capital and the status of Hyderabad in the event of a division. The Seemandhra ministers would come to a decision and hold discussions with the party high command, he said.

Pithani against CWC decision
Achanta (West Godavari): Minister Pithani Satyanarayana expressed serious opposition to the CWC decision on the State’s division and extended support to the relay hunger strike by the Samaikyandhra activists. He promised support to and to take part in the agitation as wished by the people and force the Centre to withdraw its decision.

Galla favours united State
Tirupati: Minister Galla Aruna kumari favoured a united State and Telugus remaining as one, while participating in the Samaikyandhra agitation along with her son Jayadev.

Against

Harish Rao demands CM’s dismissal

Siddipet (Medak): Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLA T Harish Rao demanded the dismissal of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for speaking against the bifurcation of the State, thereby hurting the sentiments of the Telangana people. Lashing out at the CM at a press conference in Siddipet on Friday for his anti-Telangana remarks, he said that the Governor should immediately dismiss him for violating the Constitutional oath and acting like a “parochial Seemandhra leader.”

Harish Rao said that the CM’s true colours were exposed at his media conference on Thursday. He said Kiran spew venom on the Telangana people by taking an anti-bifurcation stand. He said the CM lost the moral right to be the Chief Minister and the Telangana ministers should immediately resign and come out of the government, especially when the Chief Minsiter and the ministers of the Seemandhra region were revolting against the Congress High Command.

T Cong leaders ask Kiran to step down

Nalgonda: Miffed Telangana Congress leaders in the district lashed out at Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy for his stand against the creation of Telangana state. Speaking to the media here on Friday, MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy, former Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and MLA Chilamarthi Lingaiah said that Kiran Kumar Reddy lost the moral right to continue as Chief Minister as he was totally biased against the Telangana region and was concerned only about the Seemandhra people. He was totally unfit for the post, they said.

Komatireddy said that it was highly improper and immoral on the part of the Chief Minister to blame the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy for the division of the state. He said that they would lodge a complaint against the Chief Minister to the Congress High Command demanding his dismissal. He said that the statistical figures reeled out at his press conference on Thursday to prove his point against bifurcation were all false and cooked up.

Gutta Sukhender Reddy said that the ignorance of the Chief Minister was exposed when he said that 1 tmcft of water could irrigate one lakh hectares of agricultural land. He said that 1 tmcft of water could irrigate only 8,000 to 9,000 acres and this exposed how ignorant the Chief Minister was. He demanded that State Government release a white paper on the amount of funds allotted to each of the districts in Telangana. He said that the Chief Minister should immediately quit his post and participate in the Samaikyandra agitation if he was against bifurcation.

Nakrikel MLA Chirumarthi Lingaiah said that the people of Telangana would no longer recognize Kiran Kumar Reddy as the Chief Minister. He said that it was improper on the part of the chief minister to express views against the division of the state when the Telangana sentiment was strong in the region.