‘Centre mulling Dy CM post for T-leader’

ELURU/HYDERABAD: Giving a new twist to the ongoing T-tangle, senior Congress leader and Eluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao said the Union government is contemplating to offer the deputy chief minister post to an “able” leader from Telangana region to placate leaders spearheading the separate state movement.
Kavuri, who took part in the all-party meeting in Delhi on Jan 5 on Telangana issue, said though there was no T-sentiment among the people, leaders of TRS and some other parties were unnecessarily raking up the separate statehood demand to grab power.“By offering the deputy CM post to T-region, the leaders championing the movement could be silenced and the stir weakened,” he argued.
He said the TRS voting percentage in the 2009 elections had decreased to 6.8 from 20 during 2004 polls. He also pooh-poohed the claims of the leaders that there was no development in Telangana.
“In fact, this region developed on all front when compared to coastal, north Andhra and Rayalaseema regions,” he said, and added that the T-issue would see a lasting solution very soon.
Meanwhile, taking umbrage to Kavuri’s remarks, senior Congress leader and former minister R Damodar Reddy said in Delhi that they were not after power but want to see a separate Telangana formed immediately. Assailing the MP, Damodar said the deputy CM post offer would not weaken the movement for separate Telangana. He hoped that the Centre would make an announcement on Monday to resolve the issue.
Joining the issue, Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar and senior Congress leader Indrakaran Reddy ridiculed Kavuri’s remarks. “It is preposterous on the part of the MP to make such comments. The aspirations of over 3.5 crore people of Telangana cannot be dismissed by offering some post,” they said.
Congress leader P Goverdhan Reddy too took objection to Sambasiva Rao’s proposal to offer the post of deputy chief minister to a Telangana leader and asserted that the movement for a separate state would not stop till the state was formed.
He said realtors like Sambasiva Rao were only bothered about their business. “We need not give too much of importance to such statements,” he pointed out.