TRS chief says no to Hyderabad as union territory

Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Sunday ruled out accepting Hyderabad as union territory or a permanent joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

He said his party had no objection if Andhra Pradesh government functioned from here for 10 years as announced by the central government. He, however, made it clear that the Telangana government would run the administration of Hyderabad.

With the protests in Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra regions) continuing against the decision to carve out a Telangana state and many leaders from those regions demanding union territory status to Hyderabad, TRS leader said this was not acceptable to people of Telangana.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was speaking at a meet the press programme organized by Telangana Journalists Forum.

Asked about the protests in Seemandhra, the TRS president said he was not bothered about it as it was for their government to deal with it.

"For us Telangana state has already been formed and this has already been made clear by Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh," he said.

The MP said he never asked employees of Seemandhra to leave and blamed a section of media for misinterpretation.

"I merely said they will have to work for Andhra government while Telangana employees will work for Telangana government," he said.

KCR said he was not asking anybody to leave as people from all regions of the country were settled in Telangana for centuries.

"We need investment. We will welcome whoever comes here for making investment," he said.

He made it clear that the Telugu film industry would not only remain in Hyderabad but would be developed further.

Lauding the role of various sections of people in achieving the separate state, he called for rebuilding Telangana with the same spirit.

Unveiling his vision of Telangana, he said he want to see a smile on the face of people of Telangana who suffered injustice since its merger with Andhra State in 1956.

"People of Telangana suffered injustice in all spheres of life and nobody can dispute this. Their resources were taken away, they were denied employment opportunities. Now they will get justice, their due share and will be able to live a respectable life," he added.