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KCR comes to Centre’s rescue
Hours after Andhra Pradesh CM K Rosaiah lobbed the Telangana ball into the Centre’s court, saying the onus of finding a solution lies with New Delhi, TRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao sought to ease the pressure on the UPA government and the Congress party. Ashok Das examines...
Hours after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah lobbed the Telangana ball into the Centre’s court, saying the onus of finding a solution lies with New Delhi, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K. Chandrasekhar Rao sought to ease the pressure on the UPA government and the Congress party.
He said they need more time to deal with the issue of granting separate statehood. A fragile-looking Rao said at a press conference at his residence here on Thursday that the central leadership of the Congress needs “some breathing time for the dust to settle down”.
He denied that UPA partners such as the Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party opposed statehood for Telangana. Rosaiah, who was not party to the Centre’s decision to divide the state, said that it was for the Centre to “show us a way to resolve the crisis and help restore normalcy”.
Chiranjeevi quits
On a day that saw the contentious issue of statehood impelling MPs from various parties stalling proceedings in Parliament for the third consecutive day, the agitation in Andhra Pradesh claimed its first high profile victim, with Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi resigning his seat in the Assembly.
Chiranjeevi’s decision to resign came after attacks on theatres in Telangana screening movies of his family members and protests in his constituency, Tirupati, demanding that he change his stand.
Chiranjeevi, who quit a lucrative film career in August 2008 to join politics, had promised to help create a Telangana state during the run-up to the state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections earlier this year. He backtracked after his supporters protested strongly.
