Adilabad, October 11: Member of Congress Working Committee (CWC) and Rajya Sabha K Kesava Rao has called upon leaders of all political parties to work together for achieving separate Telangana.
“We should move ahead with the sole aim of achieving statehood to Telangana adopting Gandhi’s nonviolence policy, he said.
He was addressing Telangana martyrs’ memorial meet held by the Congress at Mancherial today, the second in the series. The first one was held at Karimnagar last Sunday. At Macherial too, financial aid of Rs 1 lakh each was distributed to each of the 17 martyrs’ families in Adilabad district.
The Congress leader promised to support families of all those who died for the cause of Telangana.
Senior Congress leader and former Union minister G Venkataswamy, who also attended the meet, reminded that agitation for Telangana was not a new thing but that it dated back to the 1950s.
He charged Andhra contractors with resorting to corruption in connection with irrigation projects in Telangana. “The estimated cost of Pranahita-Chevella project was increased from the initial `20,000 crore to `38,000 crore only for the sake of commissions,” Venkataswamy alleged.
The aged leader said he will not die till separate Telangana was achieved.
Several MPs and MLAs said the Congress alone can carve out Telangana.
They appealed to youths not to lose hope but take part in the ongoing agitation with renewed vigour as separate Telangana will soon be a reality.
Earlier, the leaders observed silence for two minutes as a mark of respect to those who laid down their lives for the cause of Telangana.
Ministers Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Geeta Reddy, Sunitha Lakshma Reddy, former ministers Jana Reddy, Damodar Reddy, Vinod and several Congress leaders were among those present at the meet.
—Agencies