The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Sonia invites TRS to join Government

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 14, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Sonia invites TRS to join Government

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, MAY 13. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) president, Sonia Gandhi, has invited the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to join the Congress-led ministries both at the Centre and the State.

Ms. Gandhi called up the TRS president, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, twice on Thursday inviting him to join the Governments and also to congratulate him on his party's good showing in the Lok Sabha election.

She was particular that Mr. Rao, mediate in roping in the parties of the former Union Minister, Ajit Singh, and the Haryana Chief Minister, Omprakash Chautala, to support the Congress in the new Lok Sabha.

Mr. Rao told reporters that he was discussing with senior party leaders the issue of joining the Government. He said that in spite of emerging as the single largest party in Parliament, the Congress would be a dependent Government. It was still looking for support from the TRS and its friendly parties, which together have won about 35 Lok Sabha seats.

KCR to give up Siddipet seat

The TRS chief announced that he was giving up his Siddipet Assembly seat following his victory from the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat. Expressing regret for letting down the voters who had elected him with a majority of 40,000 votes, Mr. Rao said he spent a bare 52 minutes in Siddipet throughout his campaign trail. He won despite giving so little time.

Without elaborating, he said the role of the party was `over' in State politics. It had gained importance in national politics. Asked if the Communists who had won a good number of seats in the Lok Sabha would not set up obstacles to the formation of Telangana, he said it would not be a problem to convince them. It was a strategy, which the TRS could not expose.

Mr. Rao expected the State of Telangana to be a reality within eight months of the introduction of a resolution in this regard in the Lok Sabha. The resolution would be moved in the budget session of Parliament. He maintained that the Assembly and Lok Sabha election results were on predictable lines. The Congress would not have performed so well without the support of TRS, he said.

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