Date:14/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/14/stories/2006091407610600.htm

Andhra Pradesh

Keshava Rao backtracks on statements

Andhra Pradesh Bureau

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC)president K. Keshava Rao announced on Wednesday that he was retracting all the provocative statements that had resulted in Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhar Rao putting in his papers as MP, and urged him to withdraw his resignation.

The TRS leader was, however, unrelenting on his decision.

Rejecting the Congress' plea, he said there was no question of withdrawing his resignation unless, of course, the Congress high command gave a time-bound commitment on Telangana.

Dr. Keshava Rao's volte face from his fiery statements during the past few days was the result of the Congress high command's advice to party leaders to exercise restraint in a bid to defusing the tension.