The recent outburst by TRS president and chief minister KCR against Telangana Joint Action Committee chairman Prof M Kodandaram has kicked up a lot of debate in the social media as to what their respective role was during the Telangana movement.
Especially, KCR’s unsavoury comments belittling the role of Kodandaram has drawn a lot of flak from the Telangana activists.
The TRS president claimed that Kodandaram had no identity and was one of the lakhs of Telangana activists created by him.
“Where are all these fellows when I founded the party in 2001 and started the Telangana movement? This fellow (veedu) did not like the TRS coming to power and hence, he secretly went and met Congress president Sonia Gandhi,” KCR said.
It is pretty evident that KCR wants to take the whole and sole credit for the Telangana formation. Though everybody admits he played a major role, he cannot undermine the role of many others in the movement, who had been working for it much before he started the TRS.
For example, Kodandaram was a known Telangana activist much before KCR entered the scene. He was heading Telangana Vidyavantula Vedika (Telangana Intellectuals Forum) and conducted a series of meetings across length and breadth of Telangana, galvanising youth and educated people.
Nobody can forget the meeting convened by Kodandaram in 1997 for separate Telangana which created tremors at the Centre and for the first time, the Congress leadership thought of the need for separate state. So, it was wrong that Kodandaram was the creation of KCR.
And what was wrong in Kodandaram meeting Sonia Gandhi? He was an independent Telangana activist and had every right to meet the leaders of all parties.
For that matter, KCR along with all his family members had lunch with Sonia, posed for a group photograph and had even shaken hands with her thanking her for granting separate Telangana. When KCR could meet Sonia, why can’t Kodandaram?
This is the debate going on in the social media circles. If it gains momentum, it will only create further troubles for KCR!
