Dismayed by state Congress leaders speaking against the creation of Telangana state at the party’s core committee meeting, students of Osmania University on Saturday laid siege to Gandhi Bhavan in Hyderabad, which is the state headquarters of the Congress party.
They raised slogans asking people not to vote for Congress candidates in the forthcoming Panchayat elections and burnt the effigy of Congress core committee which yet again postponed decision on the vexed statehood issue.
Despite police arresting and taking the students to the police stations, the students remained angry over news from New Delhi that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana opposed division of the state for different reasons at the Congress core committee meeting gathered to take a call on the issue on Friday.
Only Deputy Chief Minister Damodara Rajanarasimha spoke in favour of creating Telangana.
Sources said the chief minister highlighted power and irrigation issues that could arise if Andhra Pradesh were to be bifurcated, while Botsa strongly argued for a united Andhra with a special package and a regional board for Telangana.
In his presentation, Kiran Kumar Reddy said the government has taken up development works in various sectors, particularly in irrigation and power. He mentioned irrigation projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore in the Telangana region, which are at various stages of completion. He also said a gas-based power generation unit is being set up at Karimnagar as part of the massive ‘Pranahita – Chevella project.
However Rajanarasimha said granting statehood for Telangana is the only plausible solution to lift the region from backwardness. He rejected problems in irrigation projects, pointing out that there are systems and agreements in place at the national level to solve such issues.
Alleging that Telangana did not receive its due share of water apportioned by the Bachawat tribunal, the deputy chief minister said the new state will not be a threat to Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.
Botsa urged the core committee to consider the twin issues of employment and development before deciding bifurcation. He said the employment of 70 per cent of people will be affected if the state were to be divided.
The APCC chief said to have proposed a regional board for Telangana with wide ranging powers.
Meanwhile, Telangana political JAC president Kodandaram, condemning the latest dithering by the Congress to decide on the statehood issue, said his movement would take ‘Jana Chaitanya Yatras’ to rekindle the spirit among people. Telangana issue should be fought for and won, he said.