Contrary to the repeated assertion of chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy that then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was for united Andhra Pradesh, a new book on Telangana says Indira had favoured granting Telangana during the first phase of the statehood movement in 1969.
She changed her mind due to a pending petition filed by Pakistan in the UN security council that forced her to defend united Andhra Pradesh.
By the time the petition was dropped in 1979, she had won over all Telangana leaders with pelf and posts, the book claimed.