Hyderabad, June 11
Senior Congress leader from Telangana and Union minister S Jaipal Reddy today landed himself in trouble for his allegedly “anti-Telangana” remarks. Addressing a party function here, Reddy, the only Cabinet rank minister in the UPA government from the Telangana region, disapproved of “sub-regionalism” and claimed that the Congress is a nationalist party.

In an indirect dig at the Telangana protagonists, he said, “We must remember that we are nationalists first. We do not subscribe to regionalism or sub-regionalism. For us, India comes first and last.”

Reddy made these remarks while felicitating newly-appointed APCC chief B Satyanarayana at Gandhi Bhavan, the state Congress headquarters. In the presence of top Congress leaders and party workers, he sought to put the party’s priorities in perspective and appeared to repudiate the arguments of Telangana statehood supporters. “If I were a student of Osmania University now, I would have joined the Congress because it is the only party committed to nationalism and protecting the country’s interests,” he said.

Reddy’s remarks set off a storm in political circles with the pro-Telangana leaders demanding their immediate withdrawal. Soon after his address, P Prabhakar, MP from Karimnagar, ought clarification about his remarks. “Jaipal Reddy has clearly exposed his anti-Telangana stand. The Congress should clarify whether these were his personal remarks or were the opinions of the high command. If these were his personal comments, he will not be allowed to step into Telangana again,” Telangana Rashtra Samithi legislator T Harish Rao said.