TRS gears up for bypoll

Hyderabad, Oct 6 (UNI) Well ahead of the declaration of the byelection to the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat, senior TRS leader A Narendra today flagged-off a car rally to Karimnagar as part of the party's mass contact programme.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Narendra said the TRS acccepted Sports Minister M Satyanarayana Rao's challenge to TRS Chief K Chandrashekar Rao to take ''political sanyas'' in case of defeat in the bypoll and dared the senior Congress leader to contest against the former Union Labour Minister.

Party MPs, MLAs and functionaries would reach on the 29 Mandals, four Municipalities and a Municipal Corporation forming part of the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency from tomorrow and intensify the movement for carving out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh.

''Every day, the Palle Bata will start with flag hoisting. Soon the activists numbering over 70 each will ring bell in every village to remind the people of the need for realising a separate state'', Party spokesman Madhusudanachari told UNI.

The Party's cultural wing would organise 'Dhum Dham Damakka' cultural programme at 60 places every day to build public opinion in favour of the long-pending demand of statehood for Telangana, he said, adding that before the Election Commission issued the notification, about 350 activists each would cover each and every village in an effort to strengthen the party at the grassroots level and gear up for the bypoll.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Mr Rao from the Lok Sabha in the wake of challenge by the state Congress leaders to seek fresh mandate from the people after the TRS chief quit the Manmohan Singh Government along with Mr Narendra, ''upset with Congress Supremo Sonia Gandhi's 'continued silence' over the statehood issue''.

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