TRS chief vows not to rest till Telangana state is formed

Hyderabad, April 27 (IANS) Elected unopposed for the seventh consecutive term as the president of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), K. Chandrasekhara Rao Saturday vowed not to rest till separate Telangana state is achieved.

Addressing the TRS conclave at Armoor in Nizamabad district to mark 13th formation day of the party, he said he was re-dedicating himself to the cause and offered to continue his services to the party till it achieves its single-point agenda.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, also demanded the central government to table a bill in parliament to carve out separate Telangana state. "If the prime minister has any respect for the democracy and for the promise he made to parliament and to people, he should table the bill in the parliament," the MP from Mahabubnagar said.

The TRS chief said conspiracies could never stop Telangana. He declared that the TRS leaders would join the "Sansad yatra" in Delhi on Monday to demand separate state.

KCR said the selfish leaders of the region were the main hurdle in achieving the goal. He alleged that these leaders belonging to ruling Congress and main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ran away when asked to sacrifice their posts for the sake of Telangana.

Appealing to people to teach a lesson to anti-Telangana parties, he said Telangana society should emerge as a strong political force to fulfill its long-cherished demand of having its own state.

Welcoming TDP legislator Kamlakar Rao into the party fold, KCR claimed that many state legislators and MPs from other parties would soon join the TRS.

Earlier, TRS leader N. Narasimha Rao announced that KCR was elected unopposed as the party president. He said no other leader had filed nomination for the post.

KCR announced that the party would hold training camps for its cadre in all the assembly constituencies, which would be followed by a brainstorming session to carry the movement forward.

KCR had quit TDP to float TRS in 2000. In 2004 elections, which it fought in alliance with Congress party, TRS won 26 assembly and five Lok Sabha seats. The sub-regional party joined hands with TDP and the Left parties in 2009 elections but its strength in the assembly and Lok Sabha came down to 10 and two respectively.

However, the developments later that year and the indefinite fast by KCR infused new life into the movement.

The central government on Dec 9, 2009 declared that the process for formation of separate Telangana state would be initiated. However, the mass resignations of MPs and MLAs and the protests in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions forced the central government to put the process on hold.