Congress party has hurt the Telugu pride: Naidu

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu has accused the Congress-led UPA Government of making a mockery of the process of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing a press conference at his residence in Jubilee Hills here on Wednesday, Naidu said that the Congress leaders have repeatedly insulted the Telugu people and their pride in the name of State's bifurcation. He alleged that the ruling party has forcibly imposed its will upon all others on the Telangana issue. The representations made by the political parties and the letters sent to the Centre by the TDP were not taken into any consideration.

Naidu also asked PCC President Botsa Satyanarayana to divulge the details of his secret meeting with Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde while the Group of Ministers (GoM) was meeting the representatives of political parties in the national capital. Accusing the Congress party of adopting a strange stand, he said that the ruling party has given split opinion on the bifurcation issue. While one representative claimed that Telangana will be reality by January 1, 2014, another claimed that the Centre was stopping the bifurcation process, he said.

The TDP chief said that the Centre has violated the set norms of holding all-party meetings. He said how individual interviews with the representatives of political parties for 20 minutes could be made as a base to divide the State.

Naidu also accused the Congress party of having a secret tie-up with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and YSR Congress Party on the bifurcation issue and alleged that both TRS and YSRCP were acting as per the directions of Congress High Command. He also alleged that YSRCP representatives met the GoM on the directions of Congress leadership.

The TDP chief questioned the Centre for not inviting the Joint Action Committees of both the regions for holding consultations on the bifurcation issue. He said that the Centre was not serious about listening to any group or stakeholders and was merely completing the formalities as eyewash. He said that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh failed to react to the mass agitation by Seemandhra people going on for the last three months.