AP: Jaipals remarks stun Geeta Reddy

SANGAREDDY: Stating that Union minister Jaipal Reddy’s remarks that the UPA government disapproved of ‘sub-regionalism’ bewildered her, minister for heavy industries J Geeta Reddy said she thought that the Union minister favoured formation of separate Telangana till now.She was responding to a query by mediapersons at Zaheerabad on Sunday. She said she believed that Jaipal Reddy was supporting statehood to the region as he belonged to the region.  “Telangana agitation emerged from the people and is continuing as a people’s agitation but not as a political one,” she said.The Union minister, during the oath-taking ceremony of the new PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana held on Saturday, said that the Congress was a nationalist party. He said that the Dec 9,2009 statement on Telangana was made by the UPA government but not by the Congress party.However, Geeta Reddy said that the Congress was in favour of separate Telangana.“Congress leaders from Telangana believed that the high command would take a favourable decision on separate T after elections to the five states but with no response till now, the leaders have decided to wait till the end of June,” she said and added that they would mount pressure on the party if no decision was announced by this month end.Recently, the T Congress leader met the prime minister and he assured them of taking up the issue in the party’s core committee meeting to be held soon, Geeta Reddy reminded.On recruitment of SIs, she said that she urged the prime minister to cancel the 14 (f) clause to prevent injustice to people of Telangana.