The Telugu Desam president, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu, who has been silent on his position on Telangana, is giving equal weightage to both sides of the equation.
Mr Naidu, who was being pushed by both Telangana and Rayalaseema-Andhra leaders to declare his stance on the burning issue, finally broke his silence after calling on the kin of both young Vaishnavi who was killed in Vijayawada, and those affected by the hooch tragedy in West Godavari.
However, he played safe saying the two regions were like two eyes for him and blamed the Congress for the present political turmoil. A senior Telangana leader in the party told this newspaper that Mr Naidu now plans to tour the Telangana region and is waiting for the right moment.
“Our plan is to strengthen the party in both Seema-Andhra and Telangana. There is no Opposition party as strong as the TD,” the senior leader said.
Mr Naidu too is sure that the TD is the main Opposition party in both regions and does not intend to give space to anyone else. After returning from his tour of the Andhra region on Thursday night, he met senior party leaders and discussed steps to strengthen the party in both the regions. It is learnt Mr Naidu is sure of the bifurcation of the state sooner or later and is mentally prepared to face any eventuality. With the Telangana movement picking up, the TD leaders from Telangana have requested Mr Naidu to permit them to take decisions on resignations, agitations and other issues.
“Mr Naidu was accused of riding two horses and avoiding comments on the Telangana issue. We requested him to permit us to take decisions on issues pertaining to Telangana to avoid criticism that he is directing leaders of the rival regions,” another T leader said.(DC)
