MLAs from the coastal districts and Rayalaseema regions in Andhra Pradesh (now being referred to as Seemandhra) should not submit resignations in a hurry and they should defeat the resolution on the bifurcation of the State on the floor of the Assembly and then the Union Government would not be in a position to introduce the bill in Parliament, according to Rajahmundry Member of Parliament V. Arun Kumar.
He was addressing a public meeting here on Sunday night in protest against the decision of the Congress working committee and the UPA to form the state of Telangana. He said he had put in his papers as the member of the Lok Sabha, but the MLAs should not do so.
“The MLAs hold the key. They should speak against the move, citing facts and figures to show that the Telangana region had prospered more during the past 57 years of the existence of the united Andhra Pradesh than the coastal districts and Rayalaseema. It is clearly stated in the report submitted by the Sri Krishna Committee, with all the evidence. It is not merely our contention,” he said.
Arun Kumar said he was confident that bill would not come up in Parliament, if the majority of the MLAs spoke against bifurcation in the Assembly. In such a scenario, it would not be possible for the Union Government to introduce the bill in Parliament against the wishes of the majority of the people of the State as reflected in the Assembly. It would be against the federal spirit.
He was also critical of the BJP for what he called “its double talk and double standards” on the Telangana issue. He said he had gone to jail in the seventies, when he as a student participated in the “Jai Andhra” agitation for a separate state of Andhra. “Then, at that point of time, we wanted to call it quits. We wanted to opt out of the arrangement, as the Telangana people were demanding that Mulki rules be implemented.
“The implementation of those rules would have meant that people from the coastal districts and Rayalaseema would have been reduced to second grade citizens in their own capital - Hyderabad. Therefore, we were willing to give up on Hyderabad, but now 40 years later Hyderabad has developed into a huge metropolis with significant contributions from the people of all three regions. It is reasonable to make it the capital one region, ignoring the claims, and sacrificing the interests, of the other two regions ? Is is a just and fair solution to a complex problem ?” he asked.