High command will take care of TRS merger issue: AP Cong chief

Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana today said the party high command would deal with the issue of merger of Telangana Rashtra Samiti.
"TRS was born for the cause of Telangana. Now that Telangana state is becoming a reality, it is for TRS to decide about its future," Botsa told reporters here today.
The merger issue was the concern of the Congress high command, and it would take care of it, he added.
About the exodus of legislators from Congress to other parties, he said such migrations were common ahead of the elections.
"Some leaders are leaving Congress only out of vested interest. If they are switching parties for political gains, people will reject them," he said.

Meanwhile, former minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah demanded in a statement that the TRS should "unconditionally" merge with Congress as the latter had fulfilled the promise of creating Telangana state.

It would be detrimental to both the parties if the merger did not happen, he warned.
"The Congress fought for 60 years for Telangana while the TRS fought only for 13 years. Everyone, particularly (TRS chief) K Chandrasekhar Rao, knows how Telangana became a reality," Ponnala, a senior leader from the region, said.
"If KCR is worried about one MP or one MLA (of TRS) joining the Congress, what about the number of our MPs and MLAs whom KCR took into the TRS? Would the Congress have taken steps towards (creation of) Telangana had it taken the defections seriously?

"I leave the merge issue to the wisdom of TRS leaders but KCR should unconditionally fulfil his promise," Ponnala added.