Sabbam Hari reiterates need for ‘united’ AP

Visakhapatnam: Reiterating the need for a united Andhra Pradesh, Anakapalli Lok Sabha member Sabbam Hari – the only MP from north coastal Andhra visiting the Samaikyandhra fast camps, rallies and protests extending support – claimed that the present agitation was instigated by selfish leaders who had ruled the State earlier and those who formed a new party aiming to become Chief Ministers.

He was addressing a large gathering of elite, intellectuals, youth, senior citizens and lawyers at a seminar on ‘Implications in bifurcation of AP’ organised by all Rotary Clubs of Visakhapatnam here on Sunday. Mr Hari called upon all sections of agitators to first pitch for unified State as single important agenda leaving aside the implications in bifurcation. He said all Congress Prime Ministers were against the bifurcation of the State and Indira Gandhi also did not allow division during Marri Chenna Reddy’s regime.

Stating that there was not even a single Telugu man either in the Congress Working Committee (CWC), party’s Core Committee or in the UPA, he questioned how it could propose to give a decision on separate Telangana. “When there is a dispute, a mediator is supposed to redress the issue in the presence of both the parties, but the recent ‘innovative’ ‘T’ decision is quite against it,” he pointed out. He said Hyderabad was developed with the labour and sweat of entire Seemandhra people and the issue would be resolved only when an able administrator comes into limelight in the next elections.

Head of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Prof. DVR Murty said all the five Congress Prime Ministers had brought individual problems in the country adding that Jammu and Kashmir issue was brought by Jawaharlal Nehru, Punjab issue by Indira Gandhi, Tamil Nadu issue by Rajiv Gandhi, liberalisation issue by PV Narasimha Rao and the present Andhra issue by Manmohan Singh.

Chief executive officer of Symbiosis O Naresh Kumar asked what was the use of appointing Justice Sri Krishna Committee by spending Rs 40 crore and nine months’ time when the Centre was not interested in implementing its recommendations. He said IT exports from Hyderabad alone were worth around Rs 50,000 crore per annum while it was only Rs 12,000 crore in the rest of Andhra Pradesh.

Noted advocate Kandala Srinivasa Rao, who chaired the seminar, said that Hyderabad, which was a small town with an area of 625 km, has grown into a mega city spreading over 7,000 sq. km with vast development and it remained a big issue for the bifurcation.Other speakers also stressed upon a unified State to ensure development.