Questioning bye-elections observer Dr Vayalar Ravi as to why the Congress candidate had lost deposit in Parakala constituency, senior Congress leader and Suryapet MLA Ramreddy Damodar Reddy has said that the Telangana Congress leaders would announce their plan of action if the party high command failed to concede separate Telangana demand.
Speaking to the media at the CLP office on Wednesday, Damodar Reddy said that the high command was in favour of taking a good decision on Telangana issue following the bye-election results. Stating that the ruling party suffered a huge blow in the recent bye-elections in Telangana region, he said the people of the region have lost faith in the Congress leadership even though the party campaigned in favor of Telangana and announced its decision on December 9, 2009.
Reiterating that Telangana Congress leaders have faith in the party high command, Damodar Reddy exuded confidence that the party high command would announce a favorable decision on Telangana after the Presidential election. He said that the Congress leaders would ensure victory in 17 Lok Sabha seats in the Telangana region in 2014 elections if the Centre carved out separate Telangana, he said the party would regain its strength in both the regions if the Centre announced separate Telangana State.
“The ruling party would lose its base in the region if the high command failed to announce separate Telangana”, he said, adding that the high command has to convey the message clearly in case the announcement of its decision gets delayed. Asserting that the Telangana party leaders would mount pressure once again after discussing the issue again at a meeting soon, he said that the Telangana leaders would explain the situation in the Telangana region after the completion of Presidential election.
Referring to Dr Vayalar Ravi’s statement that the leaders have to know whether the people of the region were in support of Telangana or not, Damodar Reddy said that people had not believed in Congress even though the party told them that it would carve out separate State.
‘WE WANT SEPARATE STATE ONLY’
Replying to a question, Damodar Reddy made it clear that the Telangana Congress leaders wanted only separate Telangana State and not Chief Minister’s post. “The Telangana Congress leaders would have got Chief Minister post after Rosaiah’s resignation, but the leaders, including K Jana Reddy, wanted separate Telangana State only”, he added.
Asked why the Telangana Congress leaders did not participate in electioneering in Parkala constituency, Damodar Reddy said that the high command had not assigned job of electioneering to Telangana Congress leaders. “Even in the past, the high command did not assign electioneering to the Telangana Congress leaders”, he added.
Responding to another question, Damodar Reddy said that the statements of Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal and Minor Irrigation Minister TG Venkatesh badly affected the interests of the party. He said that both had spoken like party’s official spokespersons causing huge blow to the interests of the party.
Reacting to the statement of TG Venkatesh in New Delhi on Tuesday, Damodar Reddy said that the former’s statement was a good sign. He appealed to Venkatesh that it will be good if he conveyed his opinion to the high command. Stating that the Telangana Congress leaders never demanded Chief Minister post, he said that they only demanded separate State only.
