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TRS, BJP to boycott meet to discuss report on Telangana

HYDERABAD: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday decided to boycott a meeting of eight recognised parties called by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in New Delhi for January 6 to discuss the report of the Srikrishna Committee on the issue of statehood for Telangana.

TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao addressed a letter to Mr. Chidambaram rejecting the invitation as every party was asked to send two representatives each, giving scope for expression of “divergent views” in support of both Telangana and the coastal Andhra districts.

The BJP, on the other hand, said it had never recognised the Srikrishna Committee nor given its suggestions to the panel.

Instead of going to New Delhi, the TRS and the BJP would participate in a dharna under the aegis of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) here on January 6. The dharna would sound the bugle for the formation of the Telangana State, JAC chairman M. Kodandaram said.

Releasing the letter written to Mr. Chidambaram at a press conference, Mr. Rao took exception to the manner in which the meeting was convened by the Home Minister, as it encouraged two views.

When a similar meeting was presided over by Mr. Chidambaram ahead of the constitution of the Srikrishna Committee on January 5 last year, the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party sent one representative each from Telangana and the coastal districts. As a result, the parties expressed divergent views, and these were carried to the committee.

The TRS president blamed the Central government for the “unethical” practice of instigating the parties to present different views by inviting two representatives each. If the government was sincere, he said, the parties should be asked to depute only one leader to present their position in toto.

“The stand of the parties should be one and straightforward,” he added.

Mr. Rao expressed willingness to attend the meeting only if Mr. Chidambaram relented and invited single opinion from each party. He feared that the Centre would dodge the issue on the grounds of lack of consensus if the meeting was held with two leaders from each party.

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