KCR warns of exodus from Cong on Telangana

HYDERABAD: Upbeat over luring away three MLAs from the Congress, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao said this was only the “beginning and not the end” and warned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA government at the Centre that any more delay on Telangana will lead to an exodus of MLAs and leaders from the Congress.

After welcoming Jupalli Krishna Rao, Somarapu Satyanarayana and Dr T Rajaiah into his party at Telangana Bhavan, the TRS chief said several more leaders, not only in the Congress but also in the TDP, who are disillusioned with the policies of their parties and willing to cross over.

Referring to the three Congress defectors, he said: “These MLAs did everything to persuade their party bosses on Telangana. They made trips to Delhi, supplicated before the high command. Now they are vexed and have come out to fight for Telangana by joining hands with us.” He warned the Congress against underestimating the strength of the Telangana movement. “Even a harmless cat can kill you if you confine it in a room and beat it,” he said.

Rao used Sunday's defections to mock TDP president Candrababu Naidu for predicting that the TRS would one day merge in the Congress. “See what's happening now. The Congress is merging in TRS,” he said. Rao said it was in fact Naidu who is hobnobbing with the Congress and dared the opposition leader to move a no-confidence motion against the Kiran Kumar Reddy government in the winter session of the Assembly.

“If you move the motion, we will support it. Do it and prove that you are have no unwritten understanding with the Congress,” he said. “When the UPA announced its decision on Telangana on Dec 9, 2009, it was Naidu who approached the then chief minister K Rosaiah and stalled the formation of a separate state. In the Legislative Council elections in the past and in the Banswada byelection, Naidu ensured that TDP votes went to the Congress candidates,” he alleged.

He asked the TDP MLAs from Telangana to vacate the TDP office and plunge into the movement. “Naidu has said he was is for construction of the Polavaram. Don't you have any shame to stay at his feet even after he said he was supporting a project that is inimical to the interests of T,” he asked.