Telangana Congress leaders dismiss claim on Maoist problem

Hyderabad, July 17: Congress leaders from the Telangana region have dismissed the reported claim by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy before central leaders that the Maoist problem will raise its head in a separate Telangana state.

Member of Parliament G. Sukhender Reddy Wednesday said it was unfortunate that those opposing statehood to Telangana were making baseless claims.

The MP from Nalgonda said Maoism took birth in Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra regions). He pointed out that the Maoists attacked then chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in 2003 in Chittoor district while former minister N. Janardhana Reddy escaped a bid on his life in Nellore district. Former MP K. Yerran Naidu also came under Maoist attack in Srikakulam district.

While opposing the state's bifurcation, the chief minister in his presentation before the Congress Core Committee last week had reportedly said the Maoist problem, which was effectively checked in Andhra Pradesh, would raise its head again a Telangana state was carved out of Andhra Pradesh.

Kiran Kumar Reddy, who hails from Rayalaseema region, said a separate Telangana state may become another Chhattisgarh, which was carved out of Madhya Pradesh and now facing the Maoist problem.

The Congress leaders from Telangana, however, dismissed this assertion as unfounded. Another MP Madhu Yaskhi said the Maoist problem may rise if Telangana state was not formed.

Member of Rajya Sabha V. Hanumantha Rao said whenever there was talk of formation of Telangana state, the leaders from Seemandhra raked up the Maoist issue.

Another MP Manda Jagannatham said it was unfortunate that at a time when the Congress leadership had almost taken a decision to carve out a Telangana state, the chief minister raised the Maoist issue. He said there was no truth in the claim that the Maoists would scale up their activities in a smaller state.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) leader and former union minister of state for home Vidyasagar Rao said the Maoist problem started after the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. He recalled that the Maoists began their activity in Srikakulam in coastal Andhra and spread the same to other parts of Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana.

The BJP leader asked the chief minister to apologise to Telangana people for insulting them with baseless allegations.

IANS