TRS feels betrayed, Rao quits as Lok Sabha MP

Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrashekhara Rao has reacted strongly to Centre’s backtracking on Telangana issue on Wednesday by sending his resignation letter to Lok Sabha Speaker.

Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said it wants to consider “all views” on the demand for a separate Telangana state and “peace and tranquility should be maintained” in Andhra Pradesh.

Reacting to the Government’s statement, Rao announced that MPs, MLAs and other elected representatives of the region will submit their resignations.

He has also called for a 48-hour bandh in the region.

“Chidambaram’s statement amounts to putting the Telangana issue on the backburner. We have been betrayed once again by the state of the Home Minister.

“There is no clarity or time frame fixed. In the name of consensus will they take 150 years? How much time they are going to take (for creating Telangana)?” he told a press conference at the residence of Congress leader Jana Reddy.

After a meeting of the leaders from the region, Rao said the meeting decided to form a Joint Action Committee that will meet on Thursday to chalk out the next strategy.

“We will submit our resignation en masse from gram panchayat to municipality to MLA right up to MPs,” Rao said.

“We will never compromise (on the Telangana statehood demand). We will fight until we achieve Telangana,” the TRS chief maintained.

He gave a call for a 48-hour bandh starting on Thursday and appealed to students and all sections to make it a success.

At the same time, he appealed to the students and youth of the region not to get “emotional” in something that will cost their lives.

Rao said with the resignation of Telangana MLAs the Rosaiah government will be reduced to a minority and will have no “moral authority” to continue.

He accused the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister of being partial in his attitude towards Telangana, saying within hours of Chidambaram's announcement the state government has imposed section 144 prohibiting crowds in public places in the whole of the region, while allowing yatras of Chiranjeevi and TDP in the Andhra region.

“We demand that Rosaiah take back section 144. Otherwise the partial attitude will ignite people in Telangana,” the TRS chief said.