Congress leader Chidambaram says sorry for loss of lives during Telangana Statehood movement

Creating a State or dividing a State was not child's play and that it could not be done “just like that”, said Chidambaram

Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday apologised for the loss of lives during the Telangana Statehood agitation, and at the same time, admitted that it was “after great amount of work and persuasion” that the Congress agreed for the formation of Telangana.

Speaking to media persons here, the former union minister also said creating a State or dividing a State was not child’s play and that it could not be done “just like that” and added that the Centre’s decision was in response to the people’s movement.

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“A suicide is an unfortunate incident. If in the people’s movement, some people lost their lives in the agitation…we are sorry for that. But you can’t hold the (then) central government responsible for that,” Chidambaram told reporters. This was in response to K Chandrashekhar Rao charging the previous UPA government with delaying the formation of Telangana resulting in loss of lives.

Chidambaram, who tried to divert the blame from the Centre, alleging that there were over 4,000 suicides in Telangana, also tried to underplay Chandrashekhar Rao’s role in the movement, stating that “Rao had emerged as a prominent leader of that movement and that is why he is the Chief Minister today”.

More interestingly, the former union Minister recalled that it was “after great amount of work and persuasion” the Congress agreed that Telangana would be carved out and that he had announced it on December 9, 2009 following which Chandrasekhar Rao called off his fast.

“He (KCR) thanked us. But another agitation broke out. And Justice Srikrishna Commission was appointed, which gave six recommendations. Ultimately, the Congress party and the government in the Centre agreed to divide united Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” Chidambaram added.