Delay in Telangana decision? No surprise, says TRS

Hyderabad: Reacting to Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s recent statement that a decision on the Telangana statehood issue would not be taken in a hurry, Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao remarked that “We expected a statement from Azad beforehand”. In a telephonic message to reporters late tonight, Rao, popularly known as KCR, recalled that they had termed the all-party meeting convened by the union home minister on 28 December as a “futile exercise”. “We said that the all-party meet is useless. In fact, we had registered our protest after that meeting. Azad’s statements proved we were right,” KCR pointed out. [caption id=“attachment_600329” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Will the delay mean more protests? AFP[/caption] He called upon Congress leaders from Telangana to come out of the Congress’ “poisonous embrace” and join hands with the TRS to carry the statehood struggle forward. TRS MLA T Harish Rao demanded that all ministers from the region quit their posts at once, since the Congress has “ditched” the people of Telangana once again. Talking to reporters separately, TRS politburo member Sravan said that Azad’s remarks merely exposed the “casual attitude” of the Congress towards the Telangana issue. “We will wait until 28 January for a decision on Telangana, as promised by the Centre. If there is no decision, we will intensify our agitation,” Sravan said. PTI