Cong. condemns TD's 'Telugu Sena' move

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JULY 10. The APCC(I) president, Mr. M. Satyanarayana Rao, has condemned the Telugu Desam Party proposal to constitute `Telugu Sena' and said it `betrayed its criminal intents'.

Mr. Rao said it looked as though the Chief Minister, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, had lost faith in the police to do his bidding, and therefore, contemplated `a private army' on the lines of the Ranvir Sena in Bihar, presumably to counter the opposition stir for rollback of power tariff hike.

``Forget 'Sena', even if he brings actual `sainyam' (Army) he cannot suppress the popular movement. He will be in for serious trouble. It is better he drops the idea,'' he said at a news conference here on Monday.

Condemning the police lathicharge on Congress and Left party activists who blocked the Chief Minister's convoy in Tirupati - `I have no words strong enough to decry' - the PCC chief said three party leaders were badly hurt and hospitalised. He was deputing Messrs Galla Aruna, president of Mahila Congress, J. Geeta Reddy, former Minister, and Udaya Bhanu, MLA, on a fact- finding mission. He patted the police for restraint during the recent satyagraha in Vijayawada despite `provocative' calls from Ministers. He was not blaming the entire police.

On the TDP criticism that he was trying to destabilise the Government from day one, Mr. Satyanarayana Rao asked ``if Mr. Naidu has the right to unseat his `mama', don't we have a right ask for roll back of the tariff hike or for his stepping down?''. However, it did not mean they wanted to overthrow the Government. ``We are only 90 MLAs. How can we expect to topple? Are we fools to imagine so,'' he asked.

Mr. Satyanarayana Rao felt his raw nerve touched when asked about criticism that the PCC was not rallying behind the CLP leader, Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, in the face of persistent attacks by the ruling party. ``Nothing can be farther from truth than this''.

He complimented the Mahila Congress and its leader, Mr. Aruna, for the successful dharna in the city earlier.

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