Rao: State boost

Hyderabad, Dec. 12: The Telengana Rashtra Samiti has managed to give its demand for a separate state a boost by getting five national players with similar demands on a single platform.

The party, a member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance at the Centre, organised the Praja Garjana (people?s roar) public meeting at the Parade Grounds in Secunderbad yesterday to highlight its demand for a separate state of Telengana.

The five representatives who turned up from a list of 14 parties that were invited were Mehbooba Mufti of the People?s Democratic Party, Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, Ramdas Athavale of the Republican Party of India, S. Ramadoss of the PMK, and C. Krishnan of the MDMK.

JMM?s Shibu Soren, on whom the TRS chief had pinned much hope, did not come.

?Both Telengana and Kashmir suffer similar violence in our villages. There is only a difference of degree of violence,? Mehbooba told reporters.

The leader from Jammu and Kashmir, whose arrival was a shot in the arm for the TRS demand, made a plea for Telengana as the only solution to improve the plight of the poor in the north of Andhra Pradesh.

?BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) president Mayavati has already written to the Prime Minister to speed up the process of formation of Telengana,? A. Narendra of the TRS said referring to a copy of the letter.

Chandrasekhar Rao described the meeting as the first phase of intensifying his party?s campaign for statehood, a demand which he claimed had the support of 140 members of Parliament.

Narendra, the Union minister of state for rural development, said the Congress in Andhra ? with which the TRS is allied ? was putting up hurdles in the creation of a smaller state because of its ?vested interests?. But no one can stop Telengana from emerging in a few months, he added.

State Congress chief K. Keshav Rao, who had earlier agreed to participate in the TRS event, said he pulled out because the party had ?insulted? the chief minister.

?It is the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government that provided one acre in Banjara Hills for the party (TRS). But they chose to ignore him for the foundation-laying function,? he said.

Keshav Rao was referring to the foundation-stone laying ceremony of the TRS? new office, Telengana Bhavan.

He also objected to TRS leaders? remarks on seeking the support of the National Democratic Alliance for the statehood cause. ?If the TRS feels that the BJP and the NDA can deliver Telengana, they are free to go to them.?

Chandrasekhar Rao took the opportunity to take a potshot at the ruling Congress. He demanded that the state government renew its ceasefire pact with Maoist extremists and seriously continue peace talks with them. The three-month ceasefire is set to lapse on December 16.

Though the delay of morning flights from Delhi had kept the TRS leadership on tenterhooks regarding the national leaders? arrivals, the meeting took off successfully.

?At 4 ? clock, the ground appeared empty. But by 6.30, over 200,000 people were there. Hats off to (Chandrasekhar) Rao?s (organising) capacity,? a senior city policeman said.

The crowds were brought from each district in buses and cars instead of trucks ? which are normally stalled by the police. A four-hour cultural programme and adequate arrangements for water and tea for the audience were the other highlights.