Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium's ground and stands were packed for Jagan Mohan Reddy's public meeting
At a massive rally of over one lakh people in Hyderabad, YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday made his support in next year's Lok Sabha elections conditional, saying he will back any party that is for a united Andhra Pradesh.
Mr Reddy said he was confident the people of Andhra Pradesh will give his party 30 Lok Sabha seats in next year's general elections to stop the bifurcation of the state.
"This is a fight between Delhi's arrogance and Telugu people's self-respect. Let us win 30 Lok Sabha seats. We will then see who will and who can divide Andhra Pradesh. If we win 30 seats, we can make someone who will keep Andhra Pradesh united the Prime Minister," Mr Reddy said.
Mr Reddy's rally, the first meeting organised by any political party to oppose the central government's decision to split Andhra Pradesh and create India's 29th state, Telangana, received a huge response, filling the Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium's ground and stands.
The YSR Congress chief, who sat on an indefinite fast in Hyderabad earlier this month before being forcibly removed and hospitalised by the police, once again slammed the Congress for dividing Andhra Pradesh.
"Do you know the history of Andhra Pradesh? You are playing with the future of our children only to make your son Prime Minister. Is it justified," Mr Reddy said referring to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and her son Rahul, who is No. 2 in the party.
Attempting to project his party as the sole champion of a 'united Andhra', the YSR Congress chief has accused both Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu of betraying the people of Seemandhra - the regions of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, which are vehemently opposed to splitting Andhra Pradesh.
Mr Reddy's father, YSR Reddy, was a senior Congressman and Chief Minister of the state when he died in a chopper crash in 2009. Mr Reddy exited the party, claiming he had been sidelined by the Congress.
Mr Reddy came out of jail on bail last month after spending more than a year in prison on corruption charges. The case against him is still being investigated and political observers opine that the YSR Congress chief cannot afford to be in the opposition with the cases he is facing.