Breaking his silence today, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said the problems would only increase if the state was divided.
Taking a stand that directly contradicts the Congress Working Committee (CWC) decision, the chief minister asked the party leadership and the UPA government not to go ahead with their decision until they addressed and clarified all the issues and apprehensions of the people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. He also said the city of Hyderabad belonged to all the people and it could not be confined to one single state.
"The issue of bifurcation is closely linked to the lives of millions of farmers. How are you going to allocate the river waters of Krishna and Godavari under various reservoirs? You must clarify this first. Even the farmers of Telangana will suffer if the state gets divided because 60-65 per cent of the agriculture pumpsets, which enjoy free power, is located in this region. How would they get power when Telangana, if divided, will have a 50 per cent shortfall in the availability of power," he said at a press conference.
The party leadership or the government should think of bifurcation only after giving full clarity on the issues of irrigation, power, employment and the status of Hyderabad city.
The bifurcation issue started with former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy in 2001 when he sent 40 MLAs to meet Sonia Gandhi to demand a separate statehood. Then the Opposition parties like Telugu Desam Party endorsed the statehood demand while Congress promised only to consider the request, according to Kiran Reddy.
"We should not create bigger problems in an effort to resolve the existing problems. All that I am asking the party leadership is to first address the issues concerning the people and then decide," he said.
The chief minister asked the agitating government employees of the Seemandhra region to withdraw their strike notice and present their views before the four- member committee appointed by the Congress when it visits Hyderabad.
Meanwhile,TRS leaders reacted sharply against the chief minister's comments on the statehood as well as the status of Hyderabad. Senior TRS leader Vinod Kumar said it was an attempt at trying to incite violence in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions to block the statehood for Telangana.
