Bifurcation was self-goal for Congress, says Jairam Ramesh
Mr Ramesh said all parties, barring the CPM, supported bifurcation in writing including the TD and YSRC.
Hyderabad: Stating two years was too short a time to gauge if bifurcation of AP was a success or failure, former Union minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said that the Centre should provide financial assistance to AP for construction of a new capital city and setting up a new High Court for TS.
Mr Ramesh said all parties, barring the CPM, supported bifurcation in writing including the TD and YSRC. He said bifurcation was an “unmitigated disaster” and “spectacular self-goal” for the Congress which lost both states politically.
“Multiple factors, including T-sentiment, agitations, suicides by students, political gains and caste played a key role in the traumatic division of AP. It’s not a partition but bifurcation. More aptly it can be described as demerger of Andhra and Hyderabad that took place in 1953,” he said.
Mr Ramesh added, “There are several ifs and buts. If KCR had been inducted into the Cabinet by Naidu? If YSR was not killed things might have been different. YSR’s death gave life to KCR.”
He was speaking at a function organised by Manthan Foundation after releasing his book “Old history, New geography” here.