LB polls results not for united AP: TRS Ideologue

Hyderabad, July 7 (UNI) Telangana Rashtra Samiti(TRS) ideologue K Jayashankar today disputed Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's purported statement that TDP's relatively better performance in the recent local body polls in Telangana districts was a verdict for United Andhra Pradesh and not for a separate Telangana State.

Talking to UNI here, he said ''It is absolutely meaningless to say that there is no support for statehood for Telangana. The Telangana sentiment, which is in vogue for over a half century and worked in various Assembly and Lok Sabha elections, will not die down and will continue to dominate politics in the region in future too.'' Prof Jayashankar said the TRS would wait till the Monsoon session of Parliament for United Progressive Alliance(UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to announce whether she was for formation of separate Telangana State or not and spearhead a massive agitation thereafter, if there was no response from her.

The Telangana sentiment would be there as long as issues relating to sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters within the state and implementation of G.O 610 on jobs to local people, were not resolved, he said.''Any effort to resolve them will result in an upheavel in the Coastal Andhra and creation of separate State is the only solution'', he added.

Admitting that the recent Panchayat Poll results was a 'setback' for the TRS, the former Kakatiya University Vice-Chancellor said the presence of Congress rebels in 44 ZPTC of the 68 ZPTCs allotted to the TRS as per seat sharing was responsible for the TDP's gains in Telangana. The Congress should realise that it was the TDP which would gain if the TRS was weakened by it, Prof Jayashankar, a confidente of Union Labour Minister and TRS President K Chandrasekara Rao said.

Prof Jayashankar, who has resigned as Member of the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector recently, said he felt ''sandwitched'' between the Commission's work and the movement for Telangana. Hence he opted to relinquish the post, he added.

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