Defying the Congress leadership once again over its decision to carve out a separate Telangana state, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has said the concerns of people of Seemandhra are more important than the party.
As the union home ministry is drafting a resolution on Telangana for putting it up to the cabinet before sending it to the Andhra Pradesh assembly, the chief minister said it would be very difficult to go ahead without addressing the concerns of the people.
He was referring to the ongoing protests in Seemandhra, that is Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of the state, against the Congress Working Committee’s July 30 decision to carve out a separate Telangana state.
The chief minister, who is better known by his truncated name Kiran Reddy, told the Rajya Sabha Television in an interview that a problem cannot be solved by creating bigger problems. The Congress party, which enjoys a lot of affection in the state, should be more sensitive to the concerns of the people, he added.
Asked if he was on warpath with the Congress, Kiran Reddy, who hails from Rayalaseema, said: “This is not the question of war path. I have to answer concerns of people. When lakhs of people have got certain concerns, it is all the more my responsibility as the chief minister to satisfy them.”
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh Wednesday reminded Kiran Reddy that he is the chief minister of the whole state and his responsibility is towards all regions. He was reacting to allegations by Congress leaders from Telangana that Kiran Reddy was acting in a partisan way.
Kiran Reddy said leaders from Seemandhra were not thinking of their future or next elections but were only thinking about how to keep the state united.
“State is more important than any party calculations. Concerns of people are more important. Party functions as per the will of the people. We have to answer the people. Each party has got its own views but here the issue is much bigger than the party. The concerns of the people of the state are much bigger than the party or party’s view,” he said.
The chief minister said the state’s division would create a lot of problems. There would be problems of not only sharing of river waters but also of education and medical facilities which are Hyderabad-centric, and the interests of government employees.
“All these concerns should be addressed before thinking of a solution. After solution, you cannot address all these things,” he said.
Kiran Reddy denied that politicians from Seemandhra were opposing division as they have made investments in Hyderabad. “It’s a public cause. Leaders and individuals don’t matter. There is a sentiment attached to Hyderabad.”
“I was born in, studied and grew up in Hyderabad. After 53 years you say you don’t belong here. This is the feeling of lakhs of people. Eighty percent of the people who stay here were born after formation of the state. You cannot say that Hyderabad is ours. Hyderabad belongs to whole of Andhra Pradesh for a very long time,” he said.
The chief minister called for debate on Hyderabad.
“We will have to see constitutional provisions. There is nothing called joint capital. There are difficulties in having joint capital. If it should be made union territory, then what kind of union territory? All these are under consideration and consideration,” he added.
