TRS chief warns of ‘war’ for Telangana state

Hyderabad : Breaking his silence, Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Tuesday warned of a “war” for a separate state of Telangana.

“If the centre delivers Telangana state, there will be celebrations, otherwise there will be war,” he told reporters here.

The TRS would be holding its two-day conclave at Karimnagar Nov 5-6 to chalk out the future course of action over the demand to carve a Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was silent ever since he returned to Hyderabad earlier this month after nearly a month-long stay in New Delhi to hold talks with Congress leadership over the Telangana issue.

He reiterated that he met several leaders and that the talks were positive. “Can I say no if they want to give Telangana state,” he quipped, when a reporter asked if he would again visit Delhi for talks. He, however, said there was no invitation from the central government for talks.

The TRS chief had been avoiding media for nearly a month amid reports of differences with Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) leader M. Kodandaram. KCR had come under criticism from some JAC leaders for not attending the Telangana march held in Hyderabad on Sep 30.

KCR also gave a call for observing Nov 1, the formation day of Andhra Pradesh, as “betrayal day”. It was on this day in 1956 that Telangana was merged with then Andhra state to form Andhra Pradesh.

The TRS leader visited the residence of Telugu Desam Party leader Harishwar Reddy to invite him to join the TRS. Reddy, a member of state assembly, announced that he would join the TRS Nov 15.

KCR said another TDP legislator Sudhir Reddy was also ready to join the TRS. He claimed that several state legislators and even MPs were in touch with him.

He predicted that the Congress, the TDP and the YSR Congress would not win a single seat in Telangana in the next elections.