Centre will soon decide on Telangana issue: Satyanarayana

Visakhapatnam (AP), Nov 2: Andhra Pradesh Congress President Botsa Satyanarayana today (Nov 2) expressed confidence that the Centre would take a decision on the contentious Telangana issue soon.

Addressing a press conference here, he said, "the Centre and Congress leadership is seized of the matter and it will discuss the issue with other political parties in the UPA coalition and take a decision."

Asked about TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao's comments that the Congress will not survive in Telangana if the UPA failed to form separate state, he said, "Congress is working for the welfare of the people not for power."

"The aim of the Congress party is to look after the welfare of the all sections of the people in the country."

Ridiculing the 'padayatra' of TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu to highlight problems of farmers in AP, Satyanarayana said it was undertaken only to gain political mileage.

He said Naidu had no right to talk about farmers as he had totally neglected agriculture and farmers during the TDP regime in the state.

Though the farmers faced lot of problems during his tenure as Chief Minister, Naidu had not put any pressure on the then NDA government at the Centre to help farmers in the state, he alleged.

Before starting the 'padayatra', Naidu should apologize to the farmers for neglecting agriculture and their welfare during TDP rule.

It was only the Congress in the state and UPA government at the Centre that has launched several welfare measures for farmers and to increase the agricultural production which was touched 200 tonnes in the state, he added.

The Congress government in the state as soon as it came to power in 2004 initiated several measures for the welfare of farmers and waived electricity arrears worth Rs 1,300 crores of farmers.

PTI