Naidu shoots off hard-hitting letter to PM over AP division

, Nov 5: Alleging that the Congress and UPA Government were "rubbing salt into the wounds of people of

Pradesh" in their "criminal anxiety" to force the division of the state ahead of the general elections, Telugu Desam Party has demanded the Centre first find an "amicable solution" and only then proceed with the process.

In a six-page letter sent to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late tonight, TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu reiterated his demand that all stakeholders like employees, farmers, students and Joint Action Committees of the three regions of the state be engaged in detailed consultations on contentious issues to find an amicable solution acceptable to all.

Significantly, Naidu drew the Prime Minister's attention to the letters written by the TDP in 2008 and again in 2012, favouring a separate Telangana and also seeking "equitable justice" to all Telugu-speaking people.

"But, instead of trying to heal the wounds of bifurcation decision and minimising tensions, the Congress and the Government of India are rubbing salt into the wounds in their criminal anxiety to force the division for electoral gains. "The Congress has been using Telangana issue time and again for its own political gains on the eve of general elections," the former Chief Minister maintained.

The Congress' Central Working Committee decision to carve out Telangana was taken without identifying and addressing the concerns of all regions and the process and methods being followed (to grant statehood) are undemocratic." "Though the Srikrishna Committee, appointed by the Centre, submitted a report after a detailed study of the ground situation, it has been kept in cold storage till date.

"The Government did not even care to take note of the sensitivities and complexities, highlighted by the Committee, before announcing the decision (to divide the state)," the TDP chief alleged.

PTI