08-21-2006, 06:49 PM
Pioneer 22 Aug., 2006
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->TRS decision to quit UPA rocks Andhra
Omer Farooq | Hyderabad
The decision of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti leaders K Chandrasekhara Rao and A Narendra to quit the UPA Cabinet on Tuesday and start an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Wednesday marks the entry of Telangana struggle into a completely new phase.
It is likely to set the TRS and the ruling Congress party on a course of confrontation in Andhra Pradesh and mark the first departure of any party from the 27-month-old UPA in New Delhi.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, who had already threatened that "Telangana will erupt like a volcano if Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not keep her word on the formation of the Telangana state", decided to quit the Cabinet after consulting senior party leaders and legislators who were specially summoned to Delhi.
Apparently, the latest talks of senior Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Ahmad Patel with Chandrasekhara Rao did not succeed and Rao could not elicit any firm commitment that a Bill on Telangana will be moved in the current session of Parliament.
The party had already issued an ultimatum that if the Bill is not moved in this session, it would be forced to take a drastic decision. Rao had also said that he would return to Hyderabad either with Telangana or with a sword and shield to fight for the State.
The decision was announced on Sunday evening giving the Congress leadership time of two more days to take a decision but the Congress sources said that no major change in the party's present stand was likely.
The Congress leaders both in Hyderabad and Delhi say that a second State reorganisation commission should go into the demand for Telangana state as several other demands for smaller states were also being made in different parts of the country.
While the decision of Chandrasekhara Rao to resign from the Union Cabinet was on the expected lines, his decision to sit on an indefinite fast in New Delhi came as a surprise. It has invigorated his party's rank and file and several activists of the students and youth wings of the TRS were planning to leave for Delhi on Tuesday to participate in the indefinite fast.
But Chandrasekhara Rao continues to come under flak from the dissidents of his own party. Two dissident legislators, T Jayprakash Reddy and Mandadi Satyanarayana Reddy, have criticised Rao for an inordinate delay in quitting the Union Cabinet.
Mandadi recalled that he had advised him to launch an agitation nine months ago but at that time Rao had claimed that he had the support of the majority of MPs for the demand for Telangana.
Jayprakash, on the other hand, wondered the leader who had declared that he will bring Telangana by touching the feet of Sonia Gandhi, was now feeling the need of an agitation. The dissidents said that Rao was trying to hoodwink the people of Telangana by making false statements that he was lobbying for Telangana by remaining in the Union Cabinet.
If the TRS leaders finally keep their word and come out of the UPA Government, it can have a significant impact on the ground situation in the State.
It may pave the way for the BJP and the TRS openly tying up and actively agitating for the Telangana state. Yet another figure, the popular Telugu film star and the founder of Telangana Talli Party is also likely to join hands with the TRS after the two quit the Cabinet.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->TRS decision to quit UPA rocks Andhra
Omer Farooq | Hyderabad
The decision of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti leaders K Chandrasekhara Rao and A Narendra to quit the UPA Cabinet on Tuesday and start an indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from Wednesday marks the entry of Telangana struggle into a completely new phase.
It is likely to set the TRS and the ruling Congress party on a course of confrontation in Andhra Pradesh and mark the first departure of any party from the 27-month-old UPA in New Delhi.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao, who had already threatened that "Telangana will erupt like a volcano if Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not keep her word on the formation of the Telangana state", decided to quit the Cabinet after consulting senior party leaders and legislators who were specially summoned to Delhi.
Apparently, the latest talks of senior Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Ahmad Patel with Chandrasekhara Rao did not succeed and Rao could not elicit any firm commitment that a Bill on Telangana will be moved in the current session of Parliament.
The party had already issued an ultimatum that if the Bill is not moved in this session, it would be forced to take a drastic decision. Rao had also said that he would return to Hyderabad either with Telangana or with a sword and shield to fight for the State.
The decision was announced on Sunday evening giving the Congress leadership time of two more days to take a decision but the Congress sources said that no major change in the party's present stand was likely.
The Congress leaders both in Hyderabad and Delhi say that a second State reorganisation commission should go into the demand for Telangana state as several other demands for smaller states were also being made in different parts of the country.
While the decision of Chandrasekhara Rao to resign from the Union Cabinet was on the expected lines, his decision to sit on an indefinite fast in New Delhi came as a surprise. It has invigorated his party's rank and file and several activists of the students and youth wings of the TRS were planning to leave for Delhi on Tuesday to participate in the indefinite fast.
But Chandrasekhara Rao continues to come under flak from the dissidents of his own party. Two dissident legislators, T Jayprakash Reddy and Mandadi Satyanarayana Reddy, have criticised Rao for an inordinate delay in quitting the Union Cabinet.
Mandadi recalled that he had advised him to launch an agitation nine months ago but at that time Rao had claimed that he had the support of the majority of MPs for the demand for Telangana.
Jayprakash, on the other hand, wondered the leader who had declared that he will bring Telangana by touching the feet of Sonia Gandhi, was now feeling the need of an agitation. The dissidents said that Rao was trying to hoodwink the people of Telangana by making false statements that he was lobbying for Telangana by remaining in the Union Cabinet.
If the TRS leaders finally keep their word and come out of the UPA Government, it can have a significant impact on the ground situation in the State.
It may pave the way for the BJP and the TRS openly tying up and actively agitating for the Telangana state. Yet another figure, the popular Telugu film star and the founder of Telangana Talli Party is also likely to join hands with the TRS after the two quit the Cabinet.
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