VHR asks Congress for clear statement on Telangana

Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao on Thursday demanded that the Congress party should make a clear statement in favour of formation of Telangana State.

Talking to reporters at his residence at Amberpet, Hanumantha Rao said that the people in the region would not accept anything except a separate State. Therefore, he said that the Centre should not consider proposing any alternates or packages in place of Telangana. However, he expressed confidence that the Congress party would soon take a favourable decision over the Telangana issue.

Hanumantha Rao also dismissed some media reports that stated that some Congress MPs from the Telangana region might join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. He said that the MPs had no such plans, as they are aware that only Congress party could grant statehood for the region.

The Rajya Sabha MP also said that the replacement of N Kiran Kumar Reddy from the Chief Minister's post would not lead to collapse of Congress Government in the State. He said that the replacement of K Rosaiah did not destablilise the government and if the Congress High Command decides to replace Kiran Kumar Reddy, then it would not result in the fall of government.

Hanumantha Rao also demanded that a reshuffle in the State cabinet was must to gear up the party for 2104 elections. He also proposed that the Congress party should be involved in the Chief Minister's Indiramma Bata programme.