Andhra leaders too plan similar renunciation

Hyderabad, July 31: Claiming the byelection outcome in Telangana region as based on sympathy to MLAs, who resigned and caused elections and not Telangana sentiment, the Andhra Joint Action Committee (JAC) is mulling the option of doing a similar showdown in Andhra and Rayalaseema.

“We see that around 20 MLAs from Andhra and Rayalaseema resign and cause elections in the next six months. We see to it that all the resigned MLAs get re-elected and our United Andhra slogan be strengthened,’’ Andhra JAC convenor Prof M Samuel told Express.

He dismissed the theory that T-sentiment was growing by the day. Telangana voter was sympathetic towards MLAs, who resigned and there was no evidence of Tsentiment gaining strength, he added.

He pointed out that PCC chief D Srinivas and several other Congress and TDP candidates too got considerable votes in the elections.“If the votes of Congress and TDP are clubbed, TRS candidates would have been defeated,’’ he explained.

Samuel said that if Congress and TDP leaders were intelligent enough they should not have fielded their candidates in the byelections.

TR S won all its seats and it did not improve its tally. “There is no use if one opens or closes his blind eye,’’ Samuel said while pooh-poohing the strength of the TR S. TR S had only succeeded in keeping its strength in the Assembly intact and there was nothing to read much in the byelections, he said. Several Andhra and Rayalasema leaders from TDP also opined that the elections were purely fought on sympathy factor and not on Telangana sentiment.

The Samaikhya Andhra leaders would not accept the two-state theory and would continue to fight for the united state.

“The JAC leaders will meet soon and evolve the future course of action,’’ Samuel said.

-Agencies