Andhra Pradesh's division will lead to spurt in naxalism: Kiran Kumar Reddy

NEW DELHI: In what appeared to be a desperate last minute gamble to prevent the division of Andhra Pradesh,chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy on Monday turned the state bifurcation issue into a national security risk and prophesized that such a move would lead to increase in incidents of Naxal violence,terror activities and communal disturbances in the region and destabilize the entire nation. Insiders said the Group of Ministers (GoM) made it clear to him during their hour-long interaction that the division of the state was a fait accompli and that he would have to abide by the decision of the Congress high command. Realizing that his game is up,Kiran Kumar Reddy is now playing his last possible card,by trying to raise the bogey of Naxalism,terrorism and communalism to stall the division of the state.With the consultation process over,Kiran will now have to oversee the bifurcation or quit.He seems to be preparing the ground for the latter, said a source.
Briefing the media after his hour-long interaction with the GoM,Kiran Kumar Reddy quoted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reinforce his argument on the spread of Naxalism,referred to seized literature to claim that terrorists are targetting Hyderabad after Jammu and Kashmir,and made a rather hollow claim that lack of security forces post-division would lead to flaring up of communal tensions and clashes. In case Andhra Pradesh is divided,Naxalism,terrorism and communalism will grow in the region and pose a security risk to entire nation, he said in his hour-long press conference held at Andhra Pradesh Bhavan.

Giving details of the Maoist leadership,Kiran said the majority of them hail from Andhra Pradesh and more so Telangana.Of the 11 central committee leaders of the Maoist party,nine are from Telangana while two are from Andhra region.Of the next rung of 18 members,15 are from Andhra Pradesh of which 14 are Telanganites and one is from Andhra.The entire Andhra-Orissa border is controlled by nine naxal leaders of which three are from Telangana,four from Andhra and 2 from Rayalaseema, he said.

Union ministers encore at GoM

The Union ministers from AP,who met the Group of Ministers on the bifurcation issue on Monday,were split along regional lines in voicing their opinions.While the ones from Seemandhra pitched for making Hyderabad a Union Territory,the Telangana camp opposed this,saying that the new state without Hyderabad would be incomplete.While the Telangana ministers insisted on limiting the jurisdiction of the joint capital to the Hyderabad revenue division and ruled out parting with Bhadrachalam town,the Seemandhra ministers pleaded for keeping the state united and sought Union Territory status for Hyderabad if division was inevitable.

Intriguingly,three Seemandhra ministers submitted separate reports on their demands.While Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy submitted a report on the issues of Rayalaseema,Kishore Chandra Deo submitted a note on developmental needs of north coastal Andhra Pradesh in which he stated that Vizag should be made the capital of the residuary Andhra Pradesh.Panabaka Lakshmi also submitted her own list of demands demanding establishment of the new Seemandhra capital in either Guntur or Vijayawada.

MORE OF THE SAME

In a last-ditch attempt to stall bifurcation,Kiran says division will destablise entire nation Warns Naxals,terror and communal elements will rule the roost in T state Dwells on problems on water sharing,irrigation and higher education to buttress his argument for keeping the state united Telangana made huge strides in education,employment and irrigation,claims Kiran Asks Centre to reconsider the bifurcation decision.