Formation of Telangana inevitable: Lok Satta chief

Hyderabad, Jan 19: Lok Satta president and Andhra Pradesh legislator Jayaprakash Narayan on Saturday said formation of a separate Telangana state was inevitable but found fault with the manner in which the central government was going ahead.

 

Narayan who hails from the Andhra region but represents an assembly constituency in Hyderabad, unveiled a formula that he claimed addresses the concerns of all the three regions of the state.

Participating in the debate on the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill in the assembly and later addressing party supporters and the media, he said the state had lost a decade because of bickering over Telangana.

"Enough is enough. We cannot forever fight like cats and dogs," said Narayan, who quit the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the 1990s to launch Lok Satta as a movement for electoral reforms and later converted it into a political party.

JP, as he is popularly known, alleged the central government was dictatorial and unilateral and that almost all parties exploited the crisis for narrow political gains.

"Now, with Telangana formation being on the verge, it is necessary for all political parties to focus their energies on ensuring justice to all the three regions in the state," said JP, the lone legislator of his party.

He called for addressing revenue deficits of Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra) and firm and time-bound commitments for development of Telangana.

He sought special category status to Rayalaseema as it would be badly impacted in terms of revenue by the state’s bifurcation. He pointed out that while Hyderabad city had Rs.13,000 crore revenue surplus, Rayalaseema had Rs.7,000 crore deficit during 2012-13. The proposed pay revision this year would take the deficit to Rs.9,000 crore.

JP said the central government should fulfil its commitments for infrastructure, including setting up of premier educational institutes within a stipulated time frame. He also sought guaranteed commitment from the centre to complete the Polavaram irrigation project and the Ramayapatnam port.