KCR announces the revival of statehood agitation

Enthralled with the victory of Telangana Rashtra Samithi on four out of seven assembly segments in the by-elections, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday announced the revival of statehood agitation.

Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan here on Wednesday, Chandrasekhar Rao said that the by-elections results clearly indicate that people in the region want separate Telangana. "People have out rightly rejected the Congress and Telugu Desam Party and have voted in favour of pro-Telangana candidates," he said.

KCR also hailed the victory of Nagam Janardhan Reddy from the Nagar Kurnool seat, who contested as an independent with the support of all pro-Telangana parties. Responding to Mahbubnagar seat results, KCR claimed that although the TRS candidate has lost the election with a thin margin, a pro-Telangana candidate has won the seat. He admitted that the TRS had some misunderstanding with the BJP over the Mahbubnagar seat.

The TRS leader demanded that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi 'open their eyes' and present Telangana Bill in the on-going budget session of the Parliament.

While thanking the voters for electing TRS candidates, KCR also appealed to the workers of TDP and Congress to join the TRS to achieve the goal of separate Telangana. He also announced that the statehood agitation would be revived and intensified. A final decision in this regard would be taken during the TRS polit-bureau meeting to be held on March 25.