Traditional parties allowed Telangana issue to fester- Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan today squarely blamed the traditional parties for the violence raging in the name of Telanagana today. They had allowed the issue of regional imbalances to fester for four decades without making any sincere and honest attempt to address it.

Addressing the media, Dr. JP recalled that the Telangana issue had come to the fore once again for the last seven years. Yet, both the TDP and Congress Governments in the State and the NDA and the UPA Governments at the Center had not made any attempt to resolve the regional imbalances issue.

Dr. JP expressed regret that the traditional parties sought to exploit regional feelings for vote bank politics or to prove their existence by resorting to vandalism. Had they been interested in addressing the issue of regional imbalances, they would have constituted the State Planning Board as part of the Six-Point Plan and sincerely implemented G. O. No. 610.

He demanded that all parties try to resolve the Telangana issue once and for all, instead of viewing it as a law and order problem. He wanted the State Government to immediately initiate talks with the Telangana agitators and the Government of India to announce a development package for Telangana and other backward regions in the State.

Dr. JP appealed to the TRS to carry on its agitation in accordance with the Constitution, without resorting to violence. “Let us all fight together to end regional disparities”, Dr. JP said.

Replying to a question on the propriety of the Government arresting TRS President K. Chandrasekhara Rao who planned to go on a fast unto death, Dr. JP said the Government would attract flak whatever it did after allowing the situation to come to such a pass. He recalled that failure to prevent kar sevaks from congregating at the Babri Masjid led to the chain of events that resulted in the destruction of the mosque and subsequent communal riots.

Mr. V. Laxman Balaji, Mrs. K. Geetha Murthy and Mr. E. Chennayya shared the dais with Dr. JP.