Jolt to Cong : KK, Manda & Vivek to join TRS on June 2

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• MP Rajaiah backs out
• TRS assurances give them boost
• Final battle to achieve Telangana to be waged: Vivek
• KCR urges other leaders to join his party
• Kiran discusses the issue with Azad, to stay back in Delhi for further discussions

Hyderabad : In a major blow to Congress, senior party leader and former MP K Keshava Rao and two sitting parliamentarians -- Manda Jagannadham of Nagar- kurnool and G Vivekananda of Peddapalli constituencies -- have said they would be joining TRS on June 2.A The announcement came as the deadline set by them for a clear statement by the Congress High Command on bifurcation of the State had come to an end on Thursday. Another MP, S Rajaiah, who was also contemplating to join TRS skipped the meeting and decided to back out as he could not get any assurance from TRS that he would be fielded from Warangal.

The announcement to quit Congress and join TRS was made after a three-hour-long meeting these leaders had with TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, K T Rama Rao, Eatela Rajender and other leaders at Vivek's house. The political heirs of Manda and Keshav Rao, Srinath and Viplav respectively, were also present at the meeting. A K T Rama Rao, son of K Chandrasekhar Rao, told reporters that "they (the three leaders) had lost hope in the Congress that it would grant a separate Telangana state.

They would formally join the party on June 2." According to sources, TRS had assured the MPs that they would be given party tickets from the same constituencies they are representing to contest next year's elections. It was also decided that TRS will give Alampur assembly ticket to Srinath and Serlingampalli to Viplav. A In the case of Rajaiah, TRS is having a problem since it had committed Warangal Lok Sabha seat to Kadiyam Srihari who had recently quit TDP and joined TRS. KCR is said to be willing to give Manakondur Assembly seat to Rajaiah. But the latter wanted Warangal Lok Sabha seat for himself and Manakondur Assembly seat for his son.

The MPs felt miffed as both the Congress high command and the state Congress had ignored their demands. Though they had staged a 48-hour dharna in front of the main gate of Parliament recently, the high command did not react. The State Congress also did not bother to talk to them or try to pacify them. A Kiran Kumar Reddy has reportedly discussed this matter with AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, in charge of AP Congress affairs, and he is staying back in Delhi to have further talks with the leaders on this and other issues.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy before leaving for New Delhi on Thursday asked his confidante K Laxma Reddy to talk to the MPs and dissuade them from leaving Congress. Another senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao made a statement asking the MPs not to resign and wait till Rahul Gandhi convenes a meeting of T Congress MPs. A Talking to the media, Keshav Rao said they had patiently waited for ten years for a favourable decision from Congress and did everything they could to drive their point home but were disappointed by the party's attitude. He said TRS had been in the forefront for the cause of separate State and hence they had decided to join TRS and become part of the agitation. He said there was no vested interest in their decision to join TRS.

Jagannadham said, Congress had stated in the Lok Sabha that it would bifurcate the State but soon it decided to put it on back burner. He said they had urged the Congress high command several times to take a decision on the issue but it did not care for the aspirations of the people of the region. He said Congress should explain if breaking its own promise was the policy of the party. Having got fed up with the party, he said, they have decided to join TRS. He said it was highly regrettable that the party high command did not bother even when the Dalit MPs sat on dharna in front of the Parliament gate recently.

Vivek said that time for a final battle to achieve Telangana state had arrived. Whenever Delhi wanted to give Telangana, Seemandhra leaders had put spokes in it. He called upon all pro-Telangana leaders to come under one roof and fight for a separate state. Vivek said that he had discussed the issue with his followers and cadre who had endorsed his decision. Welcoming the decision of these leaders, KCR said that this should not be seen as a silly political desertion of leaders from one party to other. He once again gave a call to all Telangana leaders from various parties to join TRS which had become a symbol of the struggle for T state and soon more Congress leaders would join TRS.

No one can set deadlines: CM

Venkat Parsa

New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has declared that no Congressman can ever dare to set deadlines to the Congress on any issue. The Congress will never succumb to any such pressures, he declared on Thursday. Kiran Kumar, who arrived in the Capital for talks with the Planning Commission officials to finalise the Annual Plan Outlay for Andhra Pradesh for 2013-14, called on AICC General Secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday night..

Reacting to the moves of two Telangana Congress MPs, G Vivek and Manda Jagannatham, besides former APCC President K Keshav Rao to leave the Congress and to go along with the TRS, the Chief Minister said he had no comments to offer, as they were free to make their democratic choice. "I appeal to all that the Centre is already seized of the matter and should await the outcome of the efforts being made in the direction," he said.

Kiran Kumar tried to reason that Telangana is not a new issue. It has been a problem that has been there over the decades. It is a sensitive and delicate issue, which has to be carefully handled. All sides need to exercise patience, even as the Centre is trying for a solution.

There are two dimensions to the Telangana issue, he explained. One is that within the State, there are different and divergent views on the issue in the two different regions. While the Telangana protagonists are for it in that region, in the rest of the State, people hold a different view. What the Congress High Command is trying to do is to find an amicable solution.

There are similar demands in other parts of the country and any decision on Telangana will impact those regions. The Centre is proceeding cautiously in the matter and trying to evolve a nationally acceptable solution to Telangana. Thus there are several stakeholders on the Telangana issue and there are no simplistic solutions available on it. It is a time-consuming process and all concerned will have to show patience, even as the Centre is trying to engage with all stakeholders and trying for an amicable and nationally acceptable solution.

Clearly, the message of Kiran Kumar is that Telangana is not a stand-alone issue and that it is intricately interwoven with other regions of Andhra Pradesh and with similar demands in other parts of the country. Since the Centre is engaged in the process of finding a solution, all sides have to give the time and space the Centre needs to conclude the process.