By IANS,
Hyderabad : Differences once again came to the fore in the main opposition Telugu Desam Party over granting statehood to the Telangana region with those opposed to bifurcation of the state targeting the separate Telangana supporters within the TDP.
Former minister T. Srinivas Yadav, who was elected from Secunderabad assembly constituency in the recent by-elections, Tuesday took a dig at senior leader T. Devender Goud for making certain comments on the issue.
Under pressure from a section of leaders to take a clear stand on the Telangana issue, the TDP had constituted a five-member committee in April to look into it.
As the first meeting of the committee is scheduled June 18, Goud, who is also member of the committee, said it could take a clear stand on the issue before the next year’s elections. He said he would also place his views before the committee.
“I will tell the committee what the region and its people expect from the party,” he said, dismissing speculations that he has no support in the committee.
Goud, who wants party to take a clear stand in favour of separate Telangana, also did not agree that the results of the recent by-elections to four Lok Sabha and 18 assembly constituencies indicated dilution of the Telangana sentiment. He said it was not proper to link the issue with the defeat of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
“It is a five-decade-old movement for justice and it remains unresolved,” said Goud.
He termed as “personal view” the statement of Srinivas Yadav that he won the by-elections on “integration plan”.
Yadav hit back Tuesday to say that Goud’s comments on the issue were his “personal view”. He said those following personal agenda at the cost of party interests would not be spared by party.
Another senior TDP leader and former minister Y. Ramakrishnudu, who is also member of the committee, was also critical of Goud for voicing his views publicly.
The TDP has been opposed to bifurcation of the state. However, after it lost power in 2004 elections, its president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu stated that the party would take an “appropriate decision at an appropriate time”.
In recent months, a section of leaders from Telangana started demanding that the party leadership make its stand clear on the issue at the earliest.