JOIN USWith almost all political parties sending their representatives to attend the all-party meet on Telangana on Friday with the Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, the focus has now shifted to New Delhi.
However, the main protagonist for a separate Telangana state, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) said he and the people of the region have no hopes from the all-party meet.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday before leaving for the national capital, he said he would be attending the meet for the sake of Telangana and because he believes in democracy. KCR termed the all-party meet a “gimmick” by the Congress.
Meanwhile, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the YSR Congress Party (YSRC)on Thursday named their representatives for the meet called by the Union home minister . Eight political parties with two representatives each have been invited to the meet.
All major political parties are sending a representative each from Telangana and Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra regions).
The TDP will be represented by senior leaders Y Ramakrishnudu (Andhra) and Kadiam Srihari (Telangana).
Ramakrishnudu told reporters after the party’s politburo meeting in Karimnagar that they would hand over a sealed letter to Shinde, stating the party’s stand on Telangana issue. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has hinted that the party would reiterate its stand taken in 2008, that it was not against Telangana.
The YSRC will be sending Mysoora Reddy (Rayalaseema) and Mahinder Reddy (Telangana) as its representatives for the meet. Mysoora Reddy told reporters that their party would spell out its stand on Telangana only after the Congress makes its stand clear.
Six Congress leaders shortlisted by the leadership have also rushed to New Delhi. Party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, also incharge of party affairs in the state, will select the two representatives. Congress MPs from Telangana have also reached the national capital. The leadership has reportedly asked Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to be available in New Delhi on Friday.
The TRS, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India, who want separate Telangana state, and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, which are against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, have already announced their representatives for the meet.
T-issue affects Telugu meet
The regional divide in the wake of the raging Telangana controversy has cast a shadow over the fourth World Telugu Conference which got underway at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.
President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the three-day event amid protests by cultural organisations from the Telangana region. Writers, artistes and academicians from Telangana stayed away from the event, dubbing it as an attempt to suppress the movement for a separate state and the distinct cultural and literary identity, reports DHNS from Hyderabad.