Pranab throws cold water on TRS hopes

Separate Telangana is miles away

Delivering a final blow to the hopes of Telangana Rastra Samiti (TRS), defence minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the chairman of the sub-committee constituted by the UPA government on the issue of separate Telangana statehood, said they were miles away in achieving a consensus on appointing a second State Reorganisation Commission (SRC), let alone the formation of a separate state.

Replying to a question on the two-month deadline announced by Union minister and TRS supremo K Chandrasekhara Rao, Mukherjee said, "The issue cannot be resolved under such deadlines. Many stalwarts had dealt with the issue of Telangana since 1956 to find a lasting solution. How can one expect the solution under such deadlines?"

He questioned the rationale of KCR's ultimatum to quit UPA if there was no positive announcement from the Congress in two months.

A major shift in the stance of the Congress on Telangana was clear in the words of Pranab Mukherjee. Till now, the Congress had been maintaining that it was working for the political consensus on the issue of a separate Telangana state.

However, on Sunday, he said that he was only working to arrive at a consensus to appoint a second SRC to look into the demand for a separate statehood.

Indicating a change in the party's electoral strategy in the Left-ruled West Bengal, he said that the Congress would have no problem to have an electoral alliance with the Trinamool Congress if the latter left the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Denying that forging alliances at state-level were based on political opportunism, the defence minister said that the party was ready to fight the ensuing elections in West Bengal together with Trinamool led by Mamata Banerjee if she left the BJP-led alliance.