Rayalaseema leaders from four districts of the region decided to conduct a Bus Yatra from February 14 to create awareness among the people about need for separate Rayalaseema state. The decision was taken in a meeting organized in Tirupati Press Club on Wednesday, in which writers, political leaders, student leaders and representatives various organizationa fighting for the cause of Rayalaseema participated.
The meeting called upon the people to wage a united battle irrespective of their political affiliations to achieve the statehood to the region. They said nothing short of statehood would do justice to region. The leaders felt the present political dispensation was biased against the Rayalaseema. They also deliberated upon a suggestion that reservations should be implemented region wise in the state level jobs being recruited through APPSC and other bodies. Such a reservation policy has been adopted in Karantaka recently. Unless there is backward or drought affected region quota, the youth of these regions would not get jobs in the face competition from the advanced regions and the capital region.
The Bus Yatra will commence from a village in the drought stricken Alur mandal of Kurnool district. Talking from Tirupati, Rayala Sena spokesperson P Radhakrishna Rao said the Bus would touch upon every village in the region and highlight the issues remaning unresolved for decades. “Rayalaseema Chaitanya Bus Yatra will be led by former legislator and protagonist of separate state movement Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy. Similar Bus Yatra will be organized in every district,” Radhakrishan Rao said. According to Rao, the activitists felt that the policies being pursued by the TDP government had disillusioned the people of the region. They were of the opinion that separate Rayalaseema alone was the solution to the injustice being done to the region. Apart from Byreddy Rajasekhar Reddy (Kurnool), Bhuman Subramanyam Reddy (Chittoor), noted writer Bandi Narayana Swamy ( Anantapur), former MLC Venkata Siva Reddy (Chittoor) and, about 50 leaders representing various regional organizations working for the Rayalaseema cause attended the meeting.
