Hyderabad, March 02: “Stop rabble-rousing at once!’’ That is the piece of advice senior members of the Lok Satta Party have given leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
Taking strong exception to the personal remarks made by Etela Rajender against their party chief Jayaprakash Narayan, LSP leaders V Laxman Balaji, G Raj Reddy, V Vijayender Reddy and Dr Panduranga Rao told reporters here today that the LSP had never defended regionalism.
On the contrary it had always studied in depth any issue before coming up with suggestions or conclusions, they claimed.
“Centralisation of power and corruption kept rural districts economically backward. Be it the handloom weavers in Sircilla in Karimnagar district or the people migrating from Mahaboobnagar district in search of livelihood, there is little difference in the treatment meted out to members of the two classes.’’ The Lok Satta Party leaders pointed out that any discussion on the backwardness of the three regions of the State should be based on facts and figures compiled by organisations like the statistics department of Andhra Pradesh, the Central Statistical Organisation, the National Sample Surveys and the Census, but not on baseless allegations.
They said they would welcome a debate on regional backwardness by national and State-level experts. The Lok Satta Party would place the facts before the experts as it was already on the job, the senior leaders said and made it clear that their party was looking at an amicable and practical solution to the present political crisis.
The party also made it clear that there were no illusions that any settlement resulting in the State’s bifurcation or status quo would resolve people’s problems.
“A real solution lies in empowering people through decentralisation of power via formation of district gove r nments and ensuring quality education and health care, livelihood skills and employment opportunities to all.’’ Issuing a warning of sorts, the Lok Satta Party leaders made it clear that they wanted the TRS members to behave with dignity and decency in accordance with the Constitution and to stop slinging mud at a leader who won an Assembly election without inducing voters with money and liquor.
“The Lok Satta leader has been responsible for farreaching reforms in governance in the country and one should check the facts before accusing a responsible leader. A politician resorts to rabble-rousing only when he is ignorant of facts or refuses to take cognizance of facts or when he realises his arguments are shallow and devoid of sincerity,’’ the LSP leaders concluded.
–Agencies