Call to R’seema people to fight for separate State

Kadapa: “The people of Rayalaseema have been suffering from poverty and misery due to the apathy of the rulers. They are now going to face a greater disaster i.e; the move of the Congress high command to bifurcate Rayalaseema into two parts and merge them with the Telangana and Andhra along with the division of Andhra Pradesh,” opined M Sreerami Reddy, former adviser to the Government of Andhra Pradesh on irrigation and ex-president of Rayalaseema Abyodaya Sangham.

The distruction of Andhra Pradesh and the historical and cultural identity of Rayalaseema people are not planned for any noble cause of helping any of the regions, but purely as a part of a political strategy for winning more seats in parliament in 2014 elections, he pointed out.

The Congress party is in the lead in this reprehensible act, but no less guity are the other parties the TDP, YSRCP, BJP, and CPI. All are driven by personal and party interests, he alleged. The feelings and agonies of the Rayalaseema people have mattered little to them, he lamented. The Rayalaseema people have taken up the challenge through the movement of Samaikyandhra with gusto, he said.

The vital issues affecting the lives of Rayalaseema people are water for drinking and irrigation, power, industry and employment. In respect of water, the people of Coastal Andhra or Telangana have never shown any sympathy to Rayalaseema. he pointed out.

Regarding power, except for RTP, no other power project is started or even proposed so far by the AP government or the Central government. Regarding industry and employment, Rayalaseema has vast mineral wealth, but no capital to invest in industry due to their poverty. The State or Central governments have not stepped in to assist, but neglected the area for the last six decades. Naturally there have been no employment opportunities for the youth.

Justice Sri Krishna committee has pointed out that the most backward region in AP today is Rayalaseema. The State and Central governments have done nothing for Rayalaseema to promote its development along with Telangana, but it has proposed to cut it in two pieces, he said.

The present agitation is mainly centered on Samaikyandhra and Rayalaseema people are giving their full support. It is therefore time for the Rayalaseema people to seriously think first of stopping the division of their land. Telangana issue has brought on the stage as many as 14 demands for separate States and widespread agitations are in full swing in various parts of the country and forcing the Central government to act.

It is therefore the most appropriate time for the Rayalaseema people to demand as a part of the present movement for a separate Rayalaseema State along with Telangana state. The proposed state will in fact be bigger than many of the states in India such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarkhand, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Tripura, Goa, Haryana etc, he said.