Jairam sees no hope for Cong in state

HYDERABAD: The Congress has admitted that it has to face a serious electoral challenge in Seemandhra in the wake of the division of the state.

Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh, speaking to mediapersons on the concessions given to Seemandhra in the State Reorganissation Bill, said here that the Congress had failed in ensuring proper political communication with the people in Seemandhra.

'When I visited Tirupati, Samaikyandhra activists had tried to obstruct me. Though we have been very liberal to Seemandhra, like according special category status to it and entrusting to the Centre the responsibility of execution of Polavaram project, the message has not reached the people. When I was in Tirupati, I wondered whether Lord Venkateswara has cursed me to be an MP from Andhra (because I was also responsible for division of the state).'

He said the allegation of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha that the bill was unconstitutional was baseless. Under Article 3 and 4, the Governor has been vested with the powers of taking a final decision on issues related to law and order, security to people and property in Hyderabad, regardless of what the recommendation of the Telangana government would be.

Anyone, including chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, is free to contest the issue in the court since it was done in accordance with the Constitution, he said and cited three Supreme Court judgments which upheld the powers of the Centre in bifurcation of states under Article 3 and 4.

Asked where was the guarantee that the next prime minister would implement the six-point package which incumbent prime minister Manmohan Singh had promised to Seemandhra, Jairam said more than anything, it was the institution of prime minister which would be saddled with the responsibility.

'A prime minister is bound to honour the commitment made by an earlier prime minister,' he said, referring to how Manmohan Singh had honoured the commitments of his predecessor AB Vajpayee.

He said as the Congress was facing problem in Seemandhra, he was trying to reach out to people and explain what the bill had to the region. 'I visited Tirupati yesterday and I am going to visit Guntur and Visakhapatnam soon. I am prepared to face black flags.'

Contrary to the belief that the Congress has benefited in Telangana after division of the state, the Union minister said the party has failed in making political communication in Telangana too. He was obviously referring to the TRS taking the credit for Telangana statehood. 'It is the Congress which has delivered Telanaga. They (TRS) fought for it, but we had to bite the bullet,' Jairam Ramesh said.

Ramesh, however, felt that Seemandhra Congress leaders understood how the bill is going to benefit their state and are now reiterating their faith in the party and want to contest the next elections on Congress ticket, he claimed.

Asked whether he believed Jagan Mohan Reddy too would return to the Congress, since party leaders have been saying that he has Congress DNA, the Union minister said everyone in the country has Congress DNA.