Hyderabad: The contentious Telangana issue casts its long shadow on the first day of the 'Mahanadu', the annual conference of Telugu Desam party, which started in Gandipet on Friday.
On the one hand the party president N Chandrababu Naidu, under fire for his vague stand on the issue, tried to turn the tables on the ruling Congress party by demanding that it should first make its stand clear and on the other, the pro Telangana students of Osmania University tried to disrupt the conference.
In his inaugural address Naidu urged the central government to take immediate decision on the demand for Telangana state as all the parties had made their stand on the issue clear.
"It is for the Congress party ruling both at the centre and the state to spell out its stand", he said and rejected the charge that the TDP was responsible for the delay in the decision.
"The Government of India is unable to take a decision on the Telangana issue. The Congress should take responsibility for this because it has pushed Andhra Pradesh into a state of instability through its indecisiveness. The Congress is playing havoc with the lives of Telugu people," Naidu said, addressing the delegates from all over the state.
In a reflection of the trouble party was facing because of the Telangana issue, a group of Osmania University students tried to reach the venue of the conference but they were beaten back by the TDP volunteers. The students targeted a showroom of Naidu's family company Heritage Fresh in the city.
Naidu claimed that unlike the Congress party his party's stand on Telangana was very much clear as it had already responded positively to Telangana demand and decided to go in accordance with the aspirations of the people.
"The Congress can't change history. It was the one which came out with a statement on Telangana on December 9, 2009 and later went back and kept its decision in abeyance since there is division in political parties. Now, all the parties have expressed their views to the Srikrishna Committee and it is for the Centre to take a decision on Telangana," he said.
Naidu who had come under attack his own senior party colleague Nagam Janardhan Reddy for his unclear position on Telangana, defended his line that Andhra and Telangana regions were like his two eyes. "What is wrong if we are trying to carry along the people of both the regions on this sensitive issue", he said. "As party president it is my responsibility to protect TDP in both the regions of the State. I can't speak in favour of any particular region. But I am deeply pained at what's happening in the State."
He promised that Mahanadu will discuss the issues of Telanaga and integrated Andhra Pradesh in detail. Mahandu was being held in a tense atmosphere over Telangana issue as the party has suspended its senior most Telangana leader and legislator Nagam Janardhan Reddy on charges of anti-party activities.
Naidu also targeted the Telangana Rashtra Samiti describing it as a lackey of Congress. He predicted that TRS was also going to merge with Congress soon. Rebutting the criticism of TRS on the TDP, he asked why the party was not questioning the AICC president on the separate Telangana issue.
The new political threat posed by the YSR Congress party of YS Jaganmohan Reddy was also on the radar of Naidu who challeged the former to prove its strength by bringing a no confidence motion against the Congress government. "If a no confidence motion is brought we will support it", he said.
He also challeged Jagan by saying that if he proves strength beofre the governnor, the TDP was also willing to move a no confidence motion against the government.
The 30th Mahanadu is also witnessing a poster war between two young members of NTR clan N Lokesh Babu, son of Chandrababu Naidu and film star NTR Junior, son of N Harikrishna and grand son of party founder N T Rama Rao. While Naidu was keen to groom his businessman son to a key position in the party and bring him in to active politics ahead of 2014 elections, a group in the party wants an important role for NTR Junior, who has striking similarities to his charismatic grand father