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KCR now woos non-Congress, non-Left allies

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Our Regional Bureau Hyderabad
After the bitter experience with the state Congress leadership over the Telangana issue, TRS supremo K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) has now decided to use his clout in the non-Left, non-Congress allies of the UPA government to achieve his demand through collective bargaining.
 
As a first step towards this end, KCR announced here today that all the non-Left, non-Congress allies would form a separate group within the UPA to pursue the issues of their concern that were part of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).
 
Though this development will not have any immediate impact on the future of the coalition government at the Centre, the move is expected to create some flutter in the Congress circles.
 
Preliminary discussions on the constitution of a group have already taken place among the non-Left, non-Congress allies, KCR said at a media conference. However, he did not disclose the names of the allies who endorsed the idea of forming a separate group. KCR said that the like-minded allies would soon meet in Delhi to discuss several other issues besides forming the group.
 
Demanding the Congress high command to start the process for the creation of a separate Telangana, which means preparation of the Bill for introduction in the coming winter session of Parliament.
 
"The Congress high command had asked us to wait till the completion of the Maharashtra elections. Now it's time to set the ball rolling," he said while maintaining that all the non-Left, non-Congress allies would together meet both UPA chair person Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to request them to specify the time frame for implementation of various promises made in the UPA's programme.
 
When asked whether the loss of trust in the Congress party prompted the TRS to form a separate pressure group with the minor allies to achieve separate statehood, KCR said he still had full faith in Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.
 
"Yet, we are not subordinate of the Congress party. We are all equal partners in the UPA. So, we have the freedom to form our own group. And there is nothing wrong in having a coordination mechanism among the UPA allies," Rao said.
 
To another question, KCR said they would wait no more with regard to setting the process ticking. "We want the Bill for separate Telangana by December," he said.

 
 

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First Published: Oct 25 2004 | 12:00 AM IST

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