UPA stand on Telangana unlikely before Sep 30 deadline

TRS so far has not formally endorsed a massive rally in the state capital

Though Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) president K Chandra Sekhar Rao(KCR), who is camping in Delhi along with his son and daughter, have been engaged in hectic parlays with senior Congress leaders on securing a road map for Telangana statehood, the Congress high command is unlikely to make its stand clear before September 30.

The Telangana Joint Action Committee(JAC), an umbrella organisation of pro-Telangana outfits in the region had called for a 'Million March', a massive rally in the state capital, a day ahead of the kick start of the Conference on Bio Diversity, an international event being held here till October 19, to press for its demand for separate statehood.

 

TRS so far has not formally endorsed the rally while giving an impression among its cadres that a positive statement would come from the UPA government before the September 30 dead line. State government, however, is taking steps, including preempting the activists from entering into the city in a bid to ensure smooth conduct of the bio diversity conference.

"Going by the discussions for the past 20 days we are fully convinced that the Congress high command is favorably inclined to give the state. However, they may continue the ongoing consultation process, including fresh round of meetings with leaders from coastal Andhra before making any crucial statement. September 30 deadline is certainly not going to influence this process," a senior functionary of TRS told Business Standard from Delhi.

 According to this leader, a highly anticipated meeting between KCR and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the statehood issue is also unlikely to happen any time soon as the ongoing consultations with the party high command's representatives such as Vayalar Ravi are yet to be complete.

Reports suggested that KCR has offered to merge his party with the ruling party if the UPA announces the separate statehood for Telangana. Interestingly KCR's children, more particularly his daughter Kavitha is playing more active part as a communication channel between him and leaders like Ahmed Patel.