Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Botsa Satyanrayana in damage control mode

By SNV Sudhir

Visakhapatnam, Oct 15, 2013: PCC president and transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana, who faced the wrath of locals after the union cabinet cleared Telangana note, seems to have switched to damage control mode.

Taken aback by the strong opposition in his constituency, Vizianagaram, where his properties were targeted, he visited the town on Monday amidst tight security. This is his first visit to Vizianagaram after the Telangana declaration was made.

Probably, for the first time, he had openly acknowledged the contentious issues regarding bifurcation of the state, the apprehensions of Seemandhra people living in Hyderabad and water woes farmers would confront.

“Employees from Seemandhra, working in Hyderabad, will face a lot of problems if the state is bifurcated. Besides, farmers of Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra will have to face problems for irrigation water,” he told reporters, agreeing with the APNGOs and others staging protests.

However, ever since the CWC resolutoin was out, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has been more vocal on these issues.

The PCC chief said all the political parties and individuals opposing bifurcation of the state should get on to a common platform and fight for Samaikyandhra with better co-ordination.

In an attempt to ward off criticism for not resigning from his posts, Botsa Satyanarayana said he made a suggestion that both the state and union ministers from Seemandhra, MPs and MLAs resign before the CWC resolution was out. “But none heeded it,” he said.

However, he said that their resignations, at this juncture, would serve no purpose. “By doing so, we will lose an opportunity to defeat the Telangana resolution in the state Assembly,” the PCC chief said.

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