'Mandate is for separate Telangana'

The 26 elected legislators of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) yesterday unanimously elected its president, K Chandrasekhar Rao, as the leader of the legislature party.

Addressing the MLAs later, he cautioned the Congress party against ignoring the Telangana people's mandate in favour of a separate statehood.

He said TRS would launch a struggle if the state and the central governments fail to concede the demand for a separate Telangana state. KCR said that his party was more interested in achieving statehood for Telangana than sharing power with anybody. He exhorted his party MLAs to work for the cause of Telangana movement.

Not elaborating his plans with regard to the future coalition government at the centre, KCR indirectly warned the Congress party, saying that TRS would create a havoc if it tended to ignore the Telangana demand.