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By postponing the proposed indefinite strike, the Telangana protagonists appear to have made a strategic retreat only to bounce back with more vigour.

According to sources in the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) camp, the “real action” would be on display in the first week of October during Dasara festival.

The Telangana agitators have chosen this occasion with a clear strategy in mind. This is the time when a majority of the Seemandhra settlers in Hyderabad plan their visits to their native places.

After they leave for festival holidays, the agitation will be intensified so much so that they will find it extremely difficult to return to the state capital. There are plans to lay siege to all the important roads connecting Seemandhra districts. The road and rail traffic will be disrupted with a sustained agitation and demonstrations.

Already, the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) is facing criticism for putting off the general strike and for acting as a mouthpiece of TRS. 

A section of Telangana agitators strongly feel that the movement would get diluted if the scheduled agitation programmes are postponed.

Source: Greatandhra

Hyderabad, July 1 (IANS) Stepping up pressure on the central leadership over the Telangana issue, Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh, state ministers and legislators have decided to resign Monday.

Unhappy over the delay in formation of separate state, public representatives of the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh Friday decided to submit their resignations.

Senior leader K. Keshava Rao told reporters that the MPs would submit their resignations to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar while the state legislators would hand over their papers to state assembly Speaker N. Manohar.

‘We are here not for posts but for people of Telangana,’ said Panchayat Raj minister K. Jana Reddy while announcing the decision to resign.

He said all members of assembly, including ministers, would meet the assembly speaker at 11 a.m. Monday to submit their resignations. The members of legislative council will submit their papers to council chairman K. Chakrapani.

Jana Reddy demanded that the central government should abide by its Dec 9, 2009 announcement to initiate the process for formation of separate Telangana state.

He said they had to take the decision as the pressure was mounting on them from people to sacrifice their posts for the sake of separate state.
Source: Yahoo

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao on Wednesday expressed his deep respect towards his friend, philosopher and guide Prof Jayashankar by carrying the latter’s body on his shoulders.

As the body of Jayashankar was shifted from the carriage to the pyre at the crematorium, KCR lent his shoulder in carrying the body. He broke down once again as he touched the feet of the departed leader. He recalled how he used to touch Jayashankar’s feet every time he began his speech at the TRS meetings.

Along with him, Telangana JAC chairman Prof Kodandaram, Harish Rao, Etela Rajender and K T Rama Rao also contributed their efforts in shifting the body.

KCR would be definitely handicapped without Jayashankar, as the latter was the only person who he used to treat with respect. The other Telangana protagonists including Kodandaram or Mallepalli Lakshmaiah had no such attachment with KCR.

Glowing tributes were paid to Telangana ideologue Prof Kothapalli Jayashankar whose mortal remains were consigned to flames at Shiv Mukthi Dham near Padmakshamma Gutta in Hanamkona on Wednesday.

His body was taken a massive procession, comprising thousands of people from all parts of Telangana, from Ekasila Park to the crematorium covering a distance of about 8 km. Several top leaders including Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao and MP Vijayashanti were among those who took part in the funeral procession.

However, the rally was marred by some ugly incidents. The Telangana activists, mostly students, who were in agitated mood, first attacked the convoy of textile minister P Shankar Rao who arrived to pay his last respects to Jayashankar. Raising slogans of "Jai Telangana", students and activists of various pro-Telangana groups hurled stones and footwear at the minister’s convoy, police said.

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Telangana ideologue and father of separate Telangana movement Professor Kothapalli Jayashankar died on Tuesday, after battling for life due to cancer for the last six months.

He was 77. He was a bachelor.

Prof Jayashankar had been the foremost proponents of separate Telangana state and had strongly opposed the merger of erstwhile Hyderabad state with Andhra state in 1956. Since then, he had been relentlessly fighting for separate statehood for Telangana, spearheading every movement.

His tryst with Telangana started since he was a young student of Intermediate, when he walked out of his class as a protest for state reorganization in 1952. Then, in 1962, he was part of a campaign which rocked the region. As a lecturer, in 1968, he participated in the revived agitation. He carried out his struggle for Telangana through research and academic studies, and by educating people on the cause.

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The so-called novel idea of Telangana Joint Action Committee to highlight the Telangana issue by cooking on the roads has ended up as a farcical exercise.

Though the Telangana activists participated in big numbers in the collective cooking programmes at key traffic junctions in Hyderabad, it has failed to attract the people in general and the government in particular.

Since the cooking programmes are mostly held on the road side rather than on the roads, they did not cause any inconvenience to the people and the traffic. The onlookers had just gave a glimpse of the programme going on in the tents and ignored the same.

The programme did not evince any interest even in the die-hard Telangana protagonists.

Secondly, it was Sunday and there was hardly any traffic on the roads. As a result, the cooking programme did not attract many people. Only in places where TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, his deputy Vijayashanti and party leaders K.T. Rama Rao and Harish Rao attended, there was some activity in the the programme.

To sum up, it was just a show for the media and not for awakening the Telangana spirit. 
Source: Greatandhra

Media was all about reality and bringing truth to the Aam Janta but this is the philosophy of the olden days. Today, media is all about making money, saying what they want to say rather than the truth. The front runners in this are the electronic media who believe in breaking news and sensationalising trivial issues.
 
A classic example for that are the latest statements from the congress veteran K Keshav Rao regarding the Telangana issue. While he gave a long list of predictions in his usual style, the media folks chose what their preference is and published it accordingly.
 
Eenadu newspaper highlighted KK’s statement that congress will win 100 seats if Telangana is given and if not then they will not get even 10 seats. He mentioned that Botsa’s appointment as PCC chief will help the cause of Telangana.
 
On the other hand, Sakshi newspaper’s version was – KK has warned if Telangana is not given then congress will have the same fate as they had in Kadapa elections. He added that if an announcement is not given by this month end then they would enter into specific activities.
 
Well, reading the above two versions will show you how the e- media works folks.

Source: Great Andhra

The UPA government is said to have come to the conclusion that creation of separate Telangana state is inevitable now. However, it is exploring a middle path to address the sentiments of Seemandha region and this could mean granting union territory status for Hyderabad for a specific period before merging it with Telangana.

According to latest signals received from Delhi by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi leaders, the Congress central leadership has come to accept the inevitability of Telangana state but with a rider on the status of Hyderabad. “Hyderabad could be given union territory status for five or ten years. A portion of the revenues generated there could be divided between the two new states. This is one idea being considered by UPA leaders,” a TRS source said.

Though the formula is expected to be met with stiff resistance from Telangana protagonists initially, a continuous dialogue is expected to be initiated by the Centre to convince them. Since the UT status for Hyderabad will be for a limited period, the TRS and the pro-Telangana leaders of other parties may eventually come round to accept the middle path. The Centre is also of the view that Seemandhra people, by and large, have no objection to creation of Telangana state but want certain assurances about their safety and security, besides a sense of participation in Hyderabad.

The Congress is expected to take a final decision on the vexed issue at its forthcoming brainstorming session at Mount Abu in Rajasthan in the second week of June.

Sources: Great Andhra

At a time when there are reports that the Congress high command is contemplating on making a Telangana leader as the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president, Housing minister Kanna Lakshmi Narayana has thrown his hat in the ring.

Kanna said he had all the abilities to become the PCC president. “I am very much in the race for the post. I think I have all the qualities. If given a chance, I will happily take up the job,” he told the media on Wednesday.

On the other hand, transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana said he was not at all in the race for the PCC president post. “There is no such race as such and there is no truth in the reports that I am lobbying for the post. I am confident that the party high command will choose a suitable leader for the PCC chief post and Deputy Chief Minister post,” Botsa said.

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Senior Telugu Desam Party leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who has been at loggerheads with the party leadership on Telangana issue, is said to be toying with the idea of launching a news channel.

The rebel Telangana leader is understood to be keen on taking “Raj TV” on lease and convert it into a full-fledged channel for promoting Telangana statehood cause.

Earlier, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi had an arrangement with Raj TV before starting its own channel “T News” which has gained popularity within a short span of time. The Telangana channel has registered significant growth compared to its competitors in the market and garnered a significant TRP rating.

With leading politicians owning news channels and using them as platforms for promoting their image, Nagam, who has been projecting himself as the sole champion of Telangana cause in the TDP, is keen to join the bandwagon.

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