Hyderabad, May 14: Taking strong objection to criticism of the Telugu Desam Party by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao on the vexed issue of statehood for Telangana, TDLP deputy leader N Janardhan Reddy today said the very political existence of Rao and his party would have been in question had the TDP not supported it in the 2009 general elections.
The two Parliament and 10 Assembly seats the TRS could manage were only due to TDP backing, he maintained.
Addressing a press conference at the party office here today, Janardhan Reddy wanted the TRS chief to explain to the people of Telangana why he was trying to corner the TDP when in fact it was the Congress which was ruling in the State and at the Centre. He called on all political parties to join hands to fight unitedly to achieve Telangana state.
“Chandrasekhar Rao is degrading himself by criticising all the Telangana supporters, including TDP and the student community.
But he is not ready to criticise the Congress leadership which betrayed the people of the region several times in the past,’’ Janardhan Reddy said.
Launching an attack on Major Irrigation Minister P Lakshmaiah, Janardhan Reddy demanded that the minister quit his post immediately by taking moral responsibility for the illegal projects by the Maharashtra Government on the Godavari.
He said that the Maharashtra Government had taken up 11 such projects, including Babhali on the Godavari, posing a threat to the Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP) which was likely to become a desert in the near future.
TDP leader and MLA Y Dayakar Rao said the TDP would organise a massive dharna against the Maharashtra projects at the office of the Central Water Commission (CWC) in Delhi. He demanded that the CWC appoint an expert committee to settle the issue to protect livelihoods in six districts in Telangana which depended on the SRSP for irrigation.
“We will build a strong movement to protect SRSP and launch agitations against the Central and State Governments,’’ he said.
–Agencies