Hyderabad: A Rayalaseema people's conclave, organised by the Rayalaseema Parirakshana Samiti here on Sunday, demanded trifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into three states - Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema - in case the central government decided to carve out Telangana state. The day-long meeting, attended by Rayalaseema settlers in Hyderabad, vowed to achieve Rayalaseema state and formed a Rayalaseema joint action committee (RJAC), on the lines of the Telangana JAC, to spearhead the movement for creation of a Rayalaseema state.
The participants, who included intellectuals and employees of central and state governments, took a serious exception to the coining and use of the compound word, Seemandhra, to refer to the two regions of Rayalaseema and Andhra, saying the two were distinct. They said they were not ready to remain as an appendage to a coastal Andhra state and would prefer to have their own state if Telangana was going to be created.
RPS president Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy, who is also Telugu Desam general secretary, declared that they would take up an 800-kmlong padayatra in the last week of September from a remote village in Kurnool district. The padayatra is expected to take about 40 days to complete and will culminate in a public meeting at Anantapur on November 16 to coincide with the anniversary of the signing of Sri Bagh Pact between Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders on that day in 1937. At the public meeting they would bring to light the injustice that had been done to the Rayalaseema region in the united Andhra Pradesh in last 60 years, he said.
Giving a call that Rayalaseema Pourusham should be made known to every one at all levels, Reddy said people would corner MLAs, MPs and ministers if they refused to support their demand for a separate Rayalaseema state. "Till now you have seen the Telangana movement. From now on, you will see the Rayalaseema movement," he said and claimed that the people of Rayalaseema had as much right as any one else had to live in Hyderabad. He warned media houses against portraying Rayalaseema as a land of factionalists.
MV Ramana Reddy, a senior leader, said formation of Telangana state seemed imminent and the RJAC should work for creation of a Rayalaseema state. "This is the right time to launch the movement," he said.
K.Dileep Kumar, Telangana leader and MLC, expressed solidarity with the Rayalaseema movement and advised leaders of the Telangana and Rayalaseem movements to work in tandem to achieve their goals. Several government employees narrated their sufferings experienced in Hyderabad during the Telangana movement.
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