[1]Leaders from Rayalaseema on Sunday demanded a separate state in the event of a Telangana state being formed stating that they could not remain with Coastal Andhra. In a meeting held in a private function hall in Khairatabad, organised by former TD legislator Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy, the leaders decided to form a Rayalaseema Joint Action Committee on the lines of the TJAC for Telangana. It was also decided to form JACs for all professional sections of the society to fight against injustice to the region as well as for separate statehood.
Mr Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy announced that he would undertake a 40-day padayatra covering all the villages in the four districts of Rayalaseema soon. He also demanded TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu mention the backwardness of the Rayalaseema region in the proposed letter on the Telangana statehood issue in the first week of September. He also declared that he would leave TD in case Mr Naidu’s letter did not mention the demands of the Rayalaseema region. Mr Reddy reminded the gathering that it was only due to the sacrifice of Rayalaseema leaders that the AP state was formed in 1956 and the erstwhile Andhra state capital was shifted from Kurnool to Hyderabad. He also said there had been constant conspiracies to paint all Rayalaseema leaders as factionists and murderers.
Former Kadapa MLA M.V. Ramana Reddy, who spearheaded the Rayalaseema movement in 1983, Mr Bhuman, another rights activist, Independent Telangana MLC K. Dilip Kumar and others spoke at the meet.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/27byreddyjpgcropdisplayjpg-175