Keshav Rao attacks Chidambaram on Telangana

A senior Congress leader from Telangana today joined the BJP in attacking home minister P Chidambaram for not delivering on the statehood promise and asked him to get his "facts right" on the party's stand on the contentious issue.

A senior Congress leader from Telangana on Sunday joined the BJP in attacking home minister P Chidambaram for not delivering on the statehood promise and asked him to get his "facts right" on the party's stand on the contentious issue.

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Congress leader K Keshav Rao and BJP chief spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked the UPA government not to play with the sentiments of the people of the region.

While Prasad accused the UPA of "manipulating" democratic institutions including the Lok Sabha Speaker's Office to delay the formation of Telangana, Rao targeted Chidambaram for his comments in Parliament that Congress has not yet taken a stand on the issue.

"If the Congress did not want to give Telangana then why did Mr Chidambaram announce on December 9, 2009 that the steps for formation of Telangana would be initiared? The words of the home minister should carry some weight," he said.

Concurring with Prasad, Rao accused Chidambaram of not getting his facts right on Congress' stand.

"Let me correct him. I hold a bigger position than the home minister in the party. The Congress Working Committee way back in 2001 passed a resolution stating that there are valid reasons for formation of separate Telangana," he said at a meeting here on Telangana statehood issue.