Nizamabad, April 26: Disappointed after being denied a berth in the Legislative Council, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president D Srinivas on Sunday lent his support to the Telangana cause — for the first after the movement began — during his ongoing tour of the Nizamabad constituency ahead of by-elections to the seat this July/Augst.
The tour, his first in six months, was eventful not only for his remarks but also for protests. At several places, Telangana protagonists raised slogans denouncing his ambivalent stand on the Telangana issue and even branded him a Telangana traitor.
Utilising the opportunity to the hilt, Srinivas clarified that he was not a hurdle to the formation of a separate state.
‘‘My heart is full of Telangana sentiment,’’ he claimed and exuded confidence that AICC president Sonia Gandhi would not betray the people of Telangana.
He also expressed the hope that Justice BN Srikrishna Committee would recommend bifurcation of the State.
He made it clear that he would contest the by-elections with the ‘‘blessings’’ of Sonia Gandhi.
Nizamabad seat fell vacant after Y Lakshminarayana of the BJP resigned in support of the Telangana cause, honouring the call given by the Telangana JAC. Srinivas was elected thrice from Nizamabad to the Assembly in 1989, 1999 and 2004 but lost to Lakshminarayana in 2009. All the way from Hyderabad to Nizamabad, Telangana activists organised protests. The most vocal of them were ABVP activists who called him a traitor, obviously to help Lakshminarayana retain the seat. The BJP and ABVP activists also halted trains at the Nizamabad Railway station for over half-an-hour.
Srinivas, after reaching Nizamabad, went straight to a temple in a procession and offered prayers.
Later addressing partymen, he claimed that he had lost the last election due to his busy schedule as the PCC president.
The senior Congress leader will be staying in Nizamabad for the next three days.
–Agencies