Gajan and his bible toting mom resigned one day before Modi's visit to Hyd.
Jagan quits as MP over Andhra split, party's stand unclear
Last Updated: Saturday, August 10, 2013, 20:47
Hyderabad: YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Saturday resigned as Kadapa MP in protest against "unilateral and arrogant posturing" of Congress party on the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh but stopped short of spelling out his party's stand on the statehood issue.
Simultaneously, Jagan's mother and honorary president of YSR Congress Y S Vijaya too resigned from the membership of the state Assembly over the issue.
Jagan and Vijaya announced their resignations in an "open letter," released by the YSRC here this evening, even as party MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy said both the resignation letters were "faxed" to Speakers of the respective Houses.
"Jagan faxed his resignation letter to Lok Sabha Speaker through the (Chanchalguda) jail authorities. It will also be sent by post," YSRC MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy told reporters this evening.
Vijaya, who represents Pulivendula constituency, also faxed her resignation to the Assembly Speaker's office. "Her resignation will also be sent to the Speaker by a special messenger," Mekapati said.
But, Jagan and Vijaya did not clearly spell out YSRC's stand on the bifurcation of the state and blamed Congress and Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP for the current situation, even as they expressed "solidarity" with people affected by the division.
"Without looking into reality, your unilateral posturing has put our state in disarray and with the hope that our resignations would change your thinking process, we submit our resignations in protest," Jagan and Vijaya said in the open letters.
They also accused Congress of further complicating the statehood issue. "We are quitting our posts to express solidarity with the crores of people who have hit the streets to fight the injustice meted out to them by the division of the state without considering the consequences," they added.
People from Rayamaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh are protesting the proposed division of the state since the Congress Working Committee (CWC) adopted a resolution last month to carve out separate Telangana state.
Lashing out at the Congress for making the state division "its own party affair", YSRC leaders accused the party of showing "scant respect" to the sentiments of people by appointing a four-member committee headed by Union Defence Minister A K Antony rather than a government committee that could listen to the viewpoints of all stakeholders.
"A solution that is acceptable to all parties and that no region is put to disadvantage was the crux of our letter earlier written to the Central government.
"If the Central government feels that the division is inevitable and there exists no other option, Telangana issue should not be looked at in a political perspective for the individual benefit of political parties and leaders," they added.
If you cannot do 'justice" then you have no power to split the state. If division is inevitable, what we ask is, it should be done in a manner that is agreeable to all stakeholders and no injustice is meted out to anyone...If you are unable to do justice, then you should leave the state untouched," Jagan and Vijaya said.
Jagan and Vijaya alleged that Congress and opposition TDP were playing with the lives of Seemandhra people.
"While the Congress was behaving in a unilateral way, the main opposition TDP was thinking only in terms of political gains (over the statehood issue). Both are playing with the lives of Seemandhra people," they charged.
The YSRC leaders pointed out that issues of water and status of Hyderabad are two major issues that remain unresolved.
"A situation should not arise where we would be fighting over water in future. When it comes to Hyderabad, it is a city that has been inhabited by people of all regions and religions for decades," they said.
"It took nearly 60 years to build the city after Madras was denied to these people 60 years ago. About 60 per cent of the state revenue comes of Hyderabad. After completing education, students of all regions look towards Hyderabad for their prospective careers," they said.
Hyderabad city has been built over a period of 60 years but we are being asked to build a similar city in ten years elsewhere, the leaders said, adding that Hyderabad contributes Rs 40,000 crore towards state taxes, Rs 35,000 crore towards central taxes and Rs 15,000 crore of local revenues.
"The total yield comes to a whopping Rs 90,000 crore. Keeping in mind these important issues a proper decision should be taken on the city during the division, ensuring that there is no barrier to the funds and also assuring safety to people and employees," they added.
Referring to a "rumour" that a 'Rayala Telangana' state could be created by splitting four districts of Rayalaseema region into equal halves, the duo questioned that "If sentiment is the yardstick (for creation of Telangana state), then wouldn't Rayalaseema people also have the same sentiment?.. How is it right to split Rayalaseema into two halves?
Notice that Gajan had still not gone completely pro-united stand at the time of resignation. He was still hedging his bets.
And he and his mom resign one day before Modi's visit to Hyd. Co-incidence?
Modi speaks in Telugu at Hyderabad, wows crowds
Modi speaks in Telugu at Hyderabad, wows crowds
August 11, 2013 19:04 IST
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi kick-started the election campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh by starting his speech in Telugu, much to the amusement of the crowd. Vicky Nanjappa, who witnessed the event, reports.
Modi made a passionate 50-minute speech at the Lal Bahadu Shastri stadium in Hyderabad, which covered the Telangana issue and more importantly a call for a ‘Congress Free India’. Seeking the blessings of Tirupathi Sri Venkateshwara and the people of Andhra, Modi said that it was his honour to be in Hyderabad.
“I must tell you that I feel happy that the Hyderabad Liberation Day and my birthday fall on the same day,” he said amid many cheers. Seeking to clarify the controversy pertaining to the Rs 5 entry fee, Modi praised the organisers by saying it was a noble way of contributing towards the relief work in Uttarakhan
The organisers had decided to collect Rs 5 as a registration fee which had come under flak. Modi said that he is grateful to the people of Andhra for contributing towards the relief work.
“I know so many people have come to listen to me speak. I feel bad that all could not come inside (the stadium). There are many who are watching me on televisions, but I feel sad that I cannot see all of you. I assure that I will come back and meet all of you,” he said.
Now, Modi is slowly trying to dilute his party's earlier pro-separate stand and try to assuage the pro-unity folks and gain their votes as well. There is a direct connection between the stand of Gajan and Modi. Gajan is trying to pre-empt any moves by Modi in Coastal and Seema regions. It seems to me that Gajan and Kongis are in collusion, perhaps, they have come to some kind of an agreement, so they are playing a charade to fool the people.
Kongis are trying to score with pro-separate stand. KCR will have to dance to the tunes of the kongis. KCR knows that waging the tail before dynasty can prove very costly. You never know when a maoist might attack you! Even if you dance to the tunes, your survival is still not guaranteed if you are not useful anymore.
And kongis are trying to drive all the pro-unity stand votes into Gajan kitty. And they will ally with him in post-poll scenario.
But one big problem for the kongis is that they are continuously ceding the space. They are losing seats and voteshare. So, their aim is to transfer their voteshare to their b-teams. But these b-teams are very unreliable and will jump the ship in a jiffy if the kongis get less than 100 seats and lotus gets about 150 seats.
But I think Modi needs to be more dramatic and precise. I think if instead of trying to travel in two boats at the same time(which TDP tried and failed), Modi should go with a full-fledged pro-unity stand.
Rudradev ji was talking of absorbing the kongi leaders in states like AP, TN and WB. This is a rare opportunity where people/leaders are ready to switch loyalties and give a chance to a new party. Lotus can gain from this situation by going with pro-unity stand. First and foremost, lotus is the national party and therefore a match to kongis. People will understand this logic. If lotus and kongis want they can keep the state united or break the state. Any state. It hardly matters whether the other parties support or oppose it. So, that is the situation.
Kongis are already projecting a pro-division stand. So, the ball is in lotus court. So, it depends on lotus whether a new state will be formed or not. So, if lotus takes a pro-unity stance, then pro-unity vote block can vote for them. Pro-unity vote block is looking for a party that can take up their cause, if lotus does it, then it will get their vote. Both need each other and both stand to gain.
I think Modi should go with overt pro-unity stand. He stands to gain a considerable seats and voteshare in a virgin area. If he does that, it will be a major turn around for lotus in desh. In one stroke, lotus' fortunes would have changed. First and foremost, lotus has largely been a north-indian party. It has just recently gained entry into KT. But, it has also power there. If lotus gains entry into AP also, that would give it a much wider area.
For T area, people will lap up the overt Hindutva. Overt Hindutva will also work in Coastal areas where the folks are looking for a party can go against overt EJ activities.
Basically, AP is ripe for lotus. But, lotus should pay heed to the trends instead of going with some failed strategy. This kind of opportunities are rare when a party gets a chance to gain, in one stroke, a presence in a state(that too a state which is the fort of the kongis).
AP has been a unstinting supporter of kongis. If kongis lose AP, basically it signifies the end of kongis. NDA was possible because kongis could not come to power in AP. UPA was possible because of Yesu Reddy. He was wily crook. He supported pro-division stand in 2004 and pro-unity stand in 2009. And in both cases, he gained. He projected chiru to divide the opposition vote-share. Right now, kongis are trying to imitate the games played by Yesu Reddy. Ironically, just as chiru was propped up by Yesu Reddy, similarly his own son Gajan is being propped up by the kongis to divide the opposition voteshare.
CBN is right: pilla kongis and talli kongis.
What do you think?