No Telangana without consensus, reiterates Lagadapati

Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal on Thursday reiterated that Telangana could not be formed without having consensus on the issue.

Talking to reporters at Gandhi Bhavan here, Rajagopal said that the senior leaders of the Congress party have already spelled out their stand on the Telangana issue. He even gave the reference of a recent statement made by Union Minister for Overseas Affairs Vayalar Ravi to support his contention. He said despite clear statements by the Central leaders, the Telangana leaders were not accepting the reality. He said he would never change his stand on separate Telangana and would keep advocating united Andhra Pradesh.

However, the Vijayawada MP condemned the discrimination against Telangana media during Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's programme in the city. Slamming the police for discriminating the media on the basis of region, he claimed that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has already called for a report on the incident.

Reacting on YSR Congress party leader Sharmila's padayatra, Rajagopal said that he would launch a counter attack if she targets the Congress party in her speeches. Recalling his cordial relationship with former Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy, he said although Sharmila was like his own sister, he would not tolerate her criticism on the Congress party.

Regarding the padayatra of TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, the Congress MP alleged that Naidu did nothing for the welfare of people while he was Chief Minister and people would not believe his words now.