Date:15/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/15/stories/2006081508380100.htm

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I will return after getting Telangana: KCR

Special Correspondent

TRS president asks cadres to be ready for the final battle

WHAT'S COOKING?: TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao sharing a lighter moment with S. Ramadoss, PMK chief, during Telangana Bhavan inauguration in Hyderabad on Monday as senior leader A. Narendra looks on. - PHOTO: K. Ramesh Babu

HYDERABAD: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, vowed before leaving for New Delhi on Monday that he would return to the State only after an announcement by the Union Government about the creation of Telangana State.

"I will not come back empty-handed," he declared after inauguration with much fanfare and religious rituals of Telangana Bhavan, the new party headquarters of the TRS in Banjara Hills here. Pattali Makkal Katchi president S. Ramadoss, who inaugurated the building, said statehood to Telangana was the only answer to the region's plaguing problems. The PMK always believed that smaller States would be efficient.

He said he would put in his papers as Union Minister if a new State was not conceded and lead an agitation against the Government. Recalling his earlier deadline of August 15, he said there was a `finality' about his trip now and asked the cadre to be prepared either for celebrations or a battle.

At the inaugural function, Mr. Rao released letters of support for separate Telangana signed by leaders of 26 parties which, he claimed, represented 450 Members of Parliament. The signatories include former Prime Ministers V.P. Singh, Chandrashekhar, H. D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral.

Plea to Congressmen

The TRS chief said he expected a positive response from the UPA Government to his demand but, if it did not come through, the cadre must fight to the finish. He reminded them that they had a history of sacrificing lives for the cause. He held the Congress responsible if the movement took a violent turn.

Mr. Rao also said his New Delhi visit would decide whether the Congress had ditched the TRS or become a laughing stock itself. It would lift the curtains on an issue over which the TRS observed utmost restraint out of trust over the Congress leadership.