NALGONDA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy has blamed the Telangana Rastra Samithi for "not waiting for the final decision of All-India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi on the issue of carving out a separate State."

Addressing a well-attended public meeting organised by the District Congress Committee at the NG College grounds on Tuesday, he said: "The TRS, which was given a written commitment on the constitution of the second States Reorganisation Commission [SRC] before the elections, committed a mistake by not waiting for the final decision of Ms. Sonia Gandhi."

At the fag end of his speech, most of which he dedicated to making parallels between the Telugu Desam and the Congress Governments, Dr. Reddy spoke on the Telangana issue. He was, however, very cautious in choosing words while dealing with the issue so as not to cross the "Laxman rekha" drawn by State in-charge of the party affairs Digvijay Singh.

`Not fair to force us'

Reiterating that Ms. Gandhi would take an "appropriate decision at an appropriate time," he said: "Is it fair to force us to take a `final decision' when our allies — CPI, CPI(M) and the Majlis — have advised us not to be hasty?" The Chief Minister charged the Bharatiya Janata Party with changing its stand on the Telangana issue after forfeiting power. "The BJP, which was not in favour of constituting the second SRC, is now claiming that it is for a separate State. How can we rely on such people," he queried.

Dr. Reddy said that Ms. Sonia was keen on the "overall development" of the Telangana region.

"We will supply water to every acre in this region and we will ensure uplift of all sections here. We are going to create a new history," he maintained.

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