Vicky Nanjappa
Vicky Nanjappa spoke to Madhu Yashki Goud, Congress Member of Parliament from the Telangana region, on what forced his party of suddenly change its stance on granting statehood to Telangana.
Here's what Madhu Yashki Goud told rediff.com:
"One must understand the power that K V P Ramachandra Rao, a Rajya Sabha MP who was also a close confidante of the late Dr Y S Rajasekara Reddy, has. He controls 25 Congress leaders and it was he who ensured that these leaders got an appointment with top leaders barring party president Sonia Gandhi."
"It was a given that the Centre would hand over Telangana, but everything changed after these persons from the Congress met with leaders in Delhi. KVP's association with the YSR family is not a secret. He is Jagan's man in the Congress and controls these leaders who are all set to cross over into the YSR Congress party."
"Thanks to the absolute control he has over these 25 to 30 leaders from Andhra Pradesh, even the high command listens to him. Everyone in the high command -- barring Sonia Gandhi -- listens to him and he has been very successful in blocking the real picture which Gandhi never gets to know."
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'This entire drama was staged managed by KVP to ensure that Jagan gains'
"After the Union government made it clear that it would give a decision on Telangana in 30 days, everything was clear. Then there was a meeting of the high command with 25 leaders of the Congress, which included 13 ministers, 5 MPs and the 7 MLAs. These leaders told Vayalar Ravi, Ghulam Nabi Azad and also Sushilkumar Shinde that if the decision to hand over Telangana is made then they would pull down the government and ensure that the budget is not passed."
"The high command was obviously worried about this and realises the importance of this budget. This is the last budget before the elections and the Congress does not want any disruption on the same. Hence, the decision was taken to defer the decision."
"Let me make it clear that these leaders who met the high command are not going to stick to the Congress. They will cross over to the YSR Congress and wanted the decision deferred at any cost. They realise that there are some business interests in the Telangana region and it would suit them only if Andhra Pradesh is united. This entire drama was staged managed by KVP to ensure that Jagan gains."
"It would be right to say that the Congress has fallen prey to this game. They are well aware of it, but also want to ensure that the budget both at the Centre and also the state are passed without any hiccups. Hence they too decided to buy time."
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'The decision to grant Telangana has already been made; it is just a matter of timing'
"The decision to grant Telangana has already been made; it is just a matter of timing. There will be protests for sure, but one can be rest assured that the reality of a separate state is just a few months away."
"The Congress cannot keep this decision pending. In 2004 itself, Sonia had said that Telangana will be formed and the Congress too realises the importance of having a separate state."
"Our fight for Telangana is a genuine o#8800 it is not political in nature. Our high command realises this, but was cornered as it did not want the government to fall before the budget as they had been threatened."
"There is also talk that some of our leaders from Telangana would resign and join the TRS. There is no need for all this because Telangana will be granted after the budget. There is also no confusion regarding a merger between the TRS and the Congress. The TRS cannot risk fighting the elections alone once Telangana is formed and they need the Congress at any cost. All this has been decided and everything will take shape only once the budget session is complete."
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