Poll symbol allotted to TRS

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JUNE 20. The State Election Commission allotted the symbol of 'Farmer with a Plough' (with the backdrop of a wheel) to Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on Wednesday.

Announcing this at a press conference, the president of the TRS, Mr.K. Chandrasekhar Rao, thanked the Election Commission for conceding its request for the symbol.

Earlier, addressing a rally of about 500 people which reached the party headquarters here from Nizamabad led by Mr.E. Sanjeeva Reddy, former ZPTC member, Nizamabad Rural, Mr. A.S. Poshetty and Mr. Taher Bin Hamdaan under the leadership of Mr.S. Santosh Reddy, former Minister, he urged people to wage a peaceful agitation for separate Telangana.

There should be no violence even under provocation from the TDP and the police and no property must be destroyed, he said. Separate Telangana must be achieved with perseverance and door-to-door campaign. The panchayat elections should be a lesson to the ruling party and its ally, he reminded the gathering.

TRS workers must expose the ``hollowness ''of the claims of the Chief Minister and convince people about the benefits of separate Statehood. The Chief Minister was claiming payment of electricity bills as proof of people's acceptance of his policies. Hence, voters must cast their vote carefully this time as any vote to the TDP would be projected as an approval of his ``anti-people'' policies, he warned.

He questioned the concept of 'Visalandhra' and said there were no similarities in the regions at all. While the rest of Andhra got freedom in 1947, Telangana region got liberation from the Nizam rule a year later. ``They fought the British and we fought the Nizam. Where is the parity or comparison at all?''he asked.

Reiterating the argument that Telangana could sustain on its own, he said its position would be even better after becoming a separate State. People had seen enough promises from leaders of all hues in all parties and it was time they became self- sufficient, he added.

``We are not asking people of other regions to give away what all they have taken from us. We are not asking for Guntur or Vijayawada. We are just asking them to give us our land. We shall continue our peaceful agitation till our demand is met. It may be years but we shall continue to fight,'' he said.

A large group of Muslim women from old city joined the TRS later and vowed to fight for separate Telangana.

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