TRS threatens to quit UPA over Telengana

Upset over lack of progress on its demand for a separate state, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has threatened to pull out of the Manmohan Singh government.

Upset over lack of progress on its demand for a separate state, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has threatened to pull out of the Manmohan Singh government over the issue and will take a final decision in the next two or three days.

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In a bid to step up pressure on the Congress-led UPA coalition on the issue, TRS chief and Union Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao on Saturday met senior leaders and party MPs and MLAS in New Delhi on Saturday gauge their views on the issue.

Five MPs and 13 MLAs attended the meeting. The party has two ministers at the Centre - Rao and A Narendra.

"We have to think (about continuing in the Ministry), though not yet decided. If necessary we will quit the UPA also. Within next two-three days we will decide whether we should continue or not", Narendra told reporters when asked whether TRS would remain part of the government.

Observing that there was already consensus on the issue among UPA partners, he said that TRS wanted some "positive signal" from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, the Prime Minister or Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who also heads the UPA sub-committee, on the issue.

"If this does not happen, we will move a private member's bill in the next session", he said.