HYDERABAD: In the face of a fresh crisis triggered by four Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) MLAs from Warangal, the party leadership promptly got down to fire fighting on Saturday.

TRS president and Union Labour Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who airdashed from Delhi on Friday evening, went into a huddle with Union Minister of State for Rural Development A. Narendra and other leaders at his residence. Mr. Narendra was said to have spoken over telephone to Mandadi Satyanarayana Reddy and K. Lakshma Reddy, MLAs and extracted an assurance that they would reach here on Sunday to sort out the issue. The other two MLAs -- D. Srinivasa Rao and B. Sara Rani -- could not be contacted.

At a joint news conference later, Mr. Rao and Mr. Narendra expressed optimism that the problem would be thrashed out soon. Meetings of the party executive and the legislature party would also be held as a sequel. Mr. Narendra declared his loyalty to Mr. Rao and said he had plunged into the movement attracted by his leadership.

Differences denied

Both of them spewed fire at media reports that there were serious differences between them. Mr. Rao said they had not differed on any single issue since the erstwhile Telangana Sangharshana Samithi led by Mr. Narendra merged with the TRS.

The party chief blamed certain "individuals and forces" for planting stories which were far from true. He, however, refused to identify them saying he had already discussed the matter in New Delhi.

People-centric movement

He counselled that the media remain within its limits while reporting TRS activities. The movement launched by the TRS was not focussed on a few individuals but was people-centric. It was not proper to belittle such a movement.

Mr. Rao warned that attempts to thrust the views of some individuals on the public at large would backfire. It could have consequences as witnessed during the violent spell of the separate Telangana movement in 1969. The TRS did not wish to see re-eruption of such violence. But, the slanderous campaign against the party was leading to the situation.

He expected the demand for separate Telangana to be considered by the UPA Government after the Bihar elections. He had discussed the matter with the constituents of UPA in the last few days. The movement would be intensified after the polls, he said and appealed to the workers not to get demoralised. He called an end to "day dreaming" by people who sought to see that the TRS was decimated.

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