As Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Andhra Pradesh, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MP Vijayasai Reddy V hit out at the grand old party stating that Congress' agenda is opposite of 'jodo' (uniting) as it had 'todo' (bifurcated) the state eight years ago.
Taking to Twitter, Vijayasai Reddy wrote, "As the #BharatJodoYatra enters Andhra, the people remind @RahulGandhi that Congress has quite the opposite of 'jodo', has 'todo' the State of AP 8 years back. There is nothing left of the Congress now in AP."
Reacting to Reddy's allegation, Jairam Ramesh said that the TRS president and present Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekar Rao himself wrote to the then Congress-led Central government asking for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "Your party president wrote a letter I think in March 2011 to then Union Home Minister SUPPORTING bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. I am in Ballari now and dont have ready access to it. It is in my book. Shall I say more?"
https://twitter.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1581128694885928960?s=20&t=Z0HUOCUIia-2nkMlAvM7GQ
"Sorry, Vijaysai-garu, @VSReddy_MP. It was a letter sent in Dec 2012 by one of your senior colleagues on behalf of YSRCP, obviously approved by Jagan-garu. Here is that letter, as shared by many on Twitter. Remember it?," the Congress leader added in another tweet.
The Union Cabinet in 2013 formed a committee to look into the suitability of a division of Andhra Pradesh. The members included the then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum Minister and Natural Gas Minister Veerappa Moily, Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and minister of state in PMO Narayanaswamy.
In 2014, the combined state of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana consisting of Telugu-speaking people was bifurcated. Following that, Congress lost both Telugu states.
Congress presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge joined the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' with party MP Rahul Gandhi in the Ballari district of Karnataka on Saturday. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel is also present.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach a milestone on Saturday covering 1000 kilometres after starting from Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent launched on 7 September 2022.
The 3,500 kilometres yatra will be a historic event for the Congress and the entire country. It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of India, the Congress said in a statement.
Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi march was the longest march by foot (389 kilometres in 24 days) between Sabarmati ashram to Dandi (Navasari) in Gujarat state.
The Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach this milestone (1000 kilometres) when it reaches the outskirts of Ballari district, where a massive convention will happen with lakhs of Congress supporters, the party said in its release.
Many co-marchers that included MLAs, MLC, block and district INC committees, workers, cadres and support staff were astonished at the energy level Rahul Gandhi displayed en route.
( With inputs from ANI )
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