Ranchi, Dec. 21: Thousands from the Teli caste, gathered at Gumla today in a virtual display of their numerical strength, called on tribal organisations to give up their hostilities against the state government decision granting tribal status to them or ?face retaliatory action?.

Caste leaders further warned that they would take their fight to New Delhi if the Centre failed to include them in the Scheduled Tribes list within a fixed timeframe.

Supporters from Ranchi, Simdega, Gumla and Lohardaga districts brought good tidings for the BJP during election time as they today endorsed their support to the ruling government.

They termed the move ?as a gracious action in recommending tribal status to the Telis and thereby rectifying a historical mistake perpetrated for decades?.

Teli samaj leaders Bhuneshwar Anuj, Baliram Sahu, central president, Hira Sahu, district president, said they rightly deserved to be included in the Scheduled Tribes list, inhabiting the hilly terrain of the state long before the advent of the major tribes ? the Mundas and Oraons. The leaders said over the past five decades they had been demanding tribal status through democratic means.