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Hyderabad residents are not settlers: KCR

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's clarification comes after people from Kukatpally area dominated by natives of Seemandhra joined the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi.

Actress and politician Jayaprada meets K Chandrasekhar Rao in Hyderabad on Saturday. — PTI

Hyderabad - Natives of Andhra Pradesh residing in the capital city of Hyderabad can now heave a sigh of relief after hearing straight from the horses’s mouth that they are not ‘settlers,’ a term used to describe them by some people of Telangana and considered by many as derogatory.

Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in an attempt to woo the people of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of AP, made it clear that they are not settlers. “You are all Hyderabadis and children of Telangana, not settlers,” KCR, as the chief minister is known, declared. The chief minister’s clarification came after people from Kukatpally area dominated by natives of Seemandhra joined the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

“Please remove from your minds the perception that you are settlers. You are not because your forefathers came to Hyderabad and settled down here. You are Hyderabadis just as I am despite the fact that I hail from Siddipet in neighboring Medak district,” he said.

“When someone asks my grandson where he hails from, his immediate reply is Hyderabad. Even when I point out that we are from Medak, he insists that he is from Hyderabad. I also say I am from Hyderabad.”

Post bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create a separate Telangana state last year, people from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema living in various densely-populated pockets in Hyderabad, have been feeling threatened with some Telangana leaders continuing to taunt them as ‘settlers.’

Stating that it was his responsibility as chief minister to ensure peace and provide security to all living in Hyderabad, KCR said: “Some people may have doubts in their minds about their status here, and I want to make it clear that there is no such thing as settlers. Wherever you live, you have to live with confidence.”

“I request my brothers and sisters (from Seemandhra) not to nurture any doubts in their minds. Even if an ant bites you, I shall stand by you. If a thorn pricks you, I will remove it with my teeth. Be assured of that,” he said, adding that the Telangana government does not encourage regional differences. “The fact that the Telangana government announced a State funeral for noted film producer D Ramanaidu is a clear indicator that we do not discriminate against people based on region,” he said.

KCR, seeking the cooperation of Seemandhra people in the all round development of Hyderabad and Telangana, clarified that during the Telangana movement, he had to take a stance for certain reasons. “But it is past now. Telangana has been achieved and it is needless to think about the past. Just as we go to Singapore and other countries seeking investments in Telangana, we certainly welcome investments from AP too. Why not? You don’t have to worry about anything in this state. We will stand by you,” he said.

Some political analysts, however, believe that KCR’s overtures towards the Andhra residents in Hyderabad have a lot to do with the forthcoming elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), where the TRS hardly has any representation. After putting up an impressive performance in the Secunderabad Cantonment Board elections, the party is now pulling out all stops to storm the GHMC elections. -news@khaleejtimes.com