TRS hails commitment to Telangana state

It was Diwali in June for Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leaders and workers as firecrackers were set off to celebrate the fact that the President's joint address to Parliament spelt out a clear commitment to a Telangana state.

Party president and minister without portfolio K Chandrasekhara Rao was in a jubilant mood and termed the President's promise of a Telangana state "at an appropriate time and after due consultation" a victory for the TRS.

"In fact when the President's address was discussed in the Cabinet meeting, the issue of Telangana was discussed, and it was agreed upon that although the word consensus had been used by the common minimum programme (CMP), there was no need to add it to the Presidential address, as the consensus already existed," the TRS chief said.

Thus what the President's address does is to make a firmer commitment to the Telangana state than the CMP of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

"It is a day of great joy and achievement for the people of Telangana to have come close to formation of a state," said Rao.

"The movement was fought on political terms, and was not about development but freedom and self respect," he said.

Rao also the convener of new states formation committee, which is looking into the formation of a separate Vidharbha state in Maharashtra, Harit Pradesh in western Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh.

"The new states can be formed without the formation of a second States Reorganisation Committee (SRC), as when the first SRC was formed there were only 14 states, now there are 28 all formed without setting up a second States Reorganisation Committee," said Rao.

Rao says his next step would be to make sure the Telangana State Bill is drafted by the home ministry and presented and passed in both Houses of Parliament.