The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : `I will quit as MP after Telangana is formed'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 12, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

`I will quit as MP after Telangana is formed'

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD, DEC. 11. At a public meeting organised by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) at Parade grounds here today the Union Labour Minister and party president, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, said he would not cling to power once Telangana state is formed.

He would resign as Minister and Member of Parliament and remain a watchdog of the new state until it was rid of poverty, Dalit families were allotted three acres of land, peace was restored in villages and a green revolution ushered in by irrigating one crore acres.He would launch a `revolution' if the Government of the day ditched people on these issues.Mr. Rao declared with "full confidence" that this was the last public meeting in the party's struggle for Telangana. There would be no more meetings in the agitational mode and only victory rallies in future.The Union Minister recalled the day when the Chandrababu Naidu Government evicted the TRS from Jaladrushyam here, and said the party had come a long way since then. Now, the TRS was able to have a permanent building of its own from where the future of Telangana would be written. Poverty would be driven out from the region in five to six years.

He emphasised that the statehood for Telangana would be achieved only by peaceful means. None could stop formation of Telengana state after so much had been done. People nursing hopes of driving a wedge between Andhra and Telangana should give them up. The former Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, continued to harp on unified State despite having received a drubbing at the elections on this issue.

The president of the People's Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, said the elections in her State two years ago showed that people would unite if injustice was done to their region. It would be unstoppable after that.

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