Will not give up Hyderabad: APNGOs

To build pressure on the Congress High Command to withdraw its decision on Andhra Pradesh bifurcation, thousands of government employees from across the Seemandhra region tuned up at the LB Stadium to mark their attendance for the 'Save Andhra Pradesh' meeting here on Saturday.

The APNGOs president Ashok Babu, said the people of Seemandhra were not ready to accept division or give up Hyderabad as their livelihood is linked to the city.

He said that Indira Gandhi ordered for United Andhra Pradesh but the Congress on July 30 decided to carve out separate Telangana state with Hyderabad as its capital. However, it said the city would serve as joint capital of two states for 10 years.

Ashok Babu, strongly objected to the restrictions imposed by the police on live coverage of the ‘Save Andhra Pradesh’ meeting. He reminded that they have conducted the meeting with the permission of the police and the High Court. He questioned as to how far it was justifiable to impose restrictions on live coverage of the meeting of APNGOs.  It was undemocratic to muzzle the voices of media, he regretted.

He cautioned that they would further intensify their agitation, if the rulers introduced Telangana Bill in the parliament, not considering the sentiments of Seemandhra people. “We also have a plan to conduct a million march in Parade Grounds here’, he informed.