Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday expressed the hope that the State would remain united, as it had achieved substantial progress as a unified entity.
He unfurled the national flag and took the salute during the main official function to mark the Andhra Pradesh Formation Day at the NTR stadium here.
While the occasion was celebrated with enthusiasm in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, Telangana supporters organised protests and hoisted black flags in Hyderabad, Warangal and other places, describing it as a “betrayal day”.
The Chief Minister used the occasion to openly voice his dissent against the division of the State, pointing out that the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had always been in favour of a unified State.
“The State and the people are in uncertainty. There is confusion whether we will celebrate the Formation Day festival again or not. I pray to ‘Telugu Thalli ’ (Telugu mother) that this festival continues the same way,” he said. The first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, laid the foundation for unifying Telugu-speaking people on November 1, 1956 (AP formation day), and leaders from AP like P.V. Narasimha Rao and Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy steered the entire country, he said.
Reddy insisted that the Sate was able to execute projects such as Nagarjunasagar, Sriramsagar and Srisailam projects only because it was undivided.