Telangana and BCs are Devendar Goud's T-agenda

June 25, 2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 24: Telangana and backward classes will form the backbone of the new political party being launched by T Devendar Goud, who quit the Telugu Desam on Monday.
Unlike other votaries of Telangana who simply espoused the cause of the backward region forgetting its people, most of whom belong to backward classes. Incidentally, Devendar Goud is the first BC leader to take up the cause of Telangana.
The State has witnessed two major Telangana movements in the last 40 years and they were lead by people hailing from upper castes.
The first movement launched in 1969 was led by M Channa Reddy and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao resurrected it in 2001. In both the movements the backward classes had a little role to play.
Sensing the BC vacuum in Telangana leadership in the past four decades, Devendar Goud has decided to concentrate on separate statehood for Telangana with reference to backward classes. This is for the first time that a Telangana leader is talking about the Telangana people rather than just limiting himself to separate Telangana.
"We will think of beyond Telangana. We will not limit ourselves to the separate State. We have plans to develop the Telangana region once it is separated from Andhra Pradesh. Our strategy is all inclusive and we will work for the separate State and its development after the bifurcation," Devendar Goud said.
The new political party to be launched after the proposed meeting of Telangana intellectuals on June 28 will lay a major thrust on backward classes and minorities. Goud hails from the toddy tappers community, which has a large vote bank in Telangana.