Jagan seeks 30 Lok Sabha seats to keep Andhra united

Appealing to people of Andhra Pradesh to give 30 Lok Sabha seats to his party in the next year's elections, YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy Saturday said he would back any party at the centre that promise to keep the state united.

Addressing a massive public meeting here to oppose bifurcation of the state, he said YSR Congress could play a key role in the national politics by winning 30 seats and could make someone who promise to keep the state united the prime minister.

Jagan, as the MP from Kadapa is popularly known, said division of the state by the Congress party for the sake of "votes and seats" was unacceptable.

Braving the intermittent rains, over 100,000 people attended the public meeting at L. B. Stadium in the heart of the city. This was the first public meeting by any political party in Hyderabad for 'samaikyandhra' or united Andhra.

This was also the first major public meeting addressed by Jagan since his release on bail last month in a disproportionate assets case.

"This is a fight between Delhi's arrogance and Telugu people's self-respect," he remarked and criticized Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the party's decision to carve out separate Telangana state.

"Is she aware of the history of Andhra Pradesh," the young leader asked and reiterated the allegation that she was playing with the future of Telugu people and their children only to make her son Rahul Gandhi the prime minister.

Jagan, who sat on indefinite fast here earlier this month before being forcibly shifted to hospital by the police, said division of the state would lead to disputes over sharing of river water and the youth of Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) would lose education and employment opportunities in Hyderabad.

YSR Congress mobilized huge crowds despite heavy rains lashing large parts of the state. The party arranged special trains and buses to bring people to Hyderabad. It even managed to mobilize some people from Telangana districts.