YSR had never opposed Telangana

HYDERABAD: Former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy was never against statehood for the Telangana region, senior Congress leader R Damodar Reddy  said here on Thursday, contradicting BC welfare minister B Saraiah’s comments.Saraiah had told a gathering in Warangal earlier in the day that he planned to a organise meeting for Telangana on being threatened by Rajasekhara Reddy.Responding to it, Damodar Reddy recalled that it was Rajasekhara Reddy who had organised a huge meeting with 10 lakh people in 1998 for separate Telangana. He had constituted a committee with Narsa Reddy as its head and encouraged it to write a letter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi in 2001 demanding a separate state of Telangana.“Rajasekhara Reddy never spoke against Telangana and always helped us,” Damodar Reddy claimed. It was not good to talk bad about him now, the former minister said.He, however, wanted the Congress high command to instil some confidence in Telangana leaders that the region would be granted statehood sooner or later. “Setting deadlines for Telangana is not good. But, the Congress high command should instil some confidence in us,” Damodar Reddy said and added that the central government should commit to its December 9, 2009 statement.