No match over till last ball, says Kiran Reddy

Hyderabad: Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy once again strongly came out against the Congress leadership's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.In an interview with a national TV channel, the CM said that the Congress leadership should first address the concerns of Telangana and Seemandhra before moving forward on its decision to divide the state. Hinting that the process was still on, Reddy said, “No match is over till the last ball is bowled.” He said the state was more important than the party. On the status of Hyderabad, he said it belonged to the whole of Andhra Pradesh and for 400 years the city had been under the ruler of one area. Much debate would be needed on Hyderabad as a joint capital as there were different aspects to this proposition and difficulties, too, and it was not proper to discuss the issue without the Centre’s decision. “It is imperative that there should be clarity on the status of Hyderabad. There is no point in going ahead and dividing the state without resolving these important aspects.” Water sharing will be a problem: CM The Chief Minister pointed out that in solving one problem another big one should not be created. Bifurcation would entail both states facing a water problem, he said. Currently, the state was facing problems with Karnataka and Maharashtra, with all the control boards in the country having failed to solve the inter-state water problems. Besides, there were issues in education, medical care and employment and many problems in the backward areas that ought to be addressed before they went in for the state’s bifurcation, he said. The Chief Minister pointed out, “although our allocation is less, only excess and flood water are converted into irrigation, we have a problem in the Krishna basin on both assured and flood water. The allocation of water is a difficult matter for both areas, water being used for electricity too.” Power will become a major issue, he said. “There is already a power problem in the state, we have power shortage, and consumption is very high against production in the state. The real problem starts with lift irrigation schemes.” Referring to the agitations in different areas of the state, the Chief Minister said, “You can’t expect lakhs of people to come to Hyderabad. Lakhs of people are agitating in Seemandhra; nearly 6 lakh government servants are agitating against bifurcation. Employees are not taking their salary, and about 12,000 buses are not plying. I am the Chief Minister for Samaikyandhra, I am concerned about the people. We have to address the present issue, an amicable solution should be found, in the process of which much agitation has taken place, which the Centre should take into consideration. Also, there is a resistance from the other side after the party’s decision; the constitutional body should take these points into consideration.” Kiran Kumar Reddy further said, “Leaders from the Congress are not thinking of their future and the next elections; they are thinking about the present big agitation, how we stop, convince and address the people. My responsibility as the Chief Minister is that I have to satisfy them. I have to do what is good for the people of AP.\"