'Seemandhra leaders exerting pressure on Cong high command'

Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) chairman Prof Kodandaram castigated the Seemandhra leadership for influencing the Congress high command in order to defer the decision on Telangana state. He was addressing a meeting which was organized as part of the Jana Chaitanya Yatra undertaken by TJAC.

He said that the people of Telangana people have been struggling for the last 60 years for a separate state. He lambasted the Congress government for not taking a clear decision on the perennial problem. He said that the Congress had gone back on its word to finalise the issue in the core committee meeting.

"People of Telangana would no longer believe the empty promises of the Congress party," he added. The professor said that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Minister Botcha Satyanarayana were acting like the representatives of Seemandhra capitalists. "They failed to recognise the aspirations of Telangana people," he added. He described the Telangana ministers and MLAs who remained obedient to the leadership of Kiran Kumar as slaves.

He announced that a Maha Dharna would be staged on August 1 and 2. TJAC leaders Sriniva Goud, district leaders Ashok Kumar, Papaiah, Rajendar, Srinivas Reddy, J Sudhakar and others were present. Earlier, addressing the meeting at Medak town, Prof Kodandaram said that the Congress party had once again deceived the people of Telangana by organizing Telangana Sadhana Sabha at Hyderabad. He asserted that the Congress would once again cheat the people of Telangana.

Srinivas Goud said that it was not proper to state that the Naxalite problem would grow if Telangana was formed. "There is no connection to the Naxalite problem," he added. Jella Sudhakar presided over the meeting. Addanki Dayakar, Papaiah, Padma Devendar Redd7y and others were present.