Telangana issue comes to focus again

Hyderabad, Dec 9: The decisive victory of Telangana Rashtra SamitiChief K Chandrasekara Rao in the Karimnagar Lok Sabha bypoll hasbrought to centre stage the issue of carving out a separate Telanganastate from Andhra Pradesh.

Projected as a 'referendum' on formation of a new state by theTRS, the former Union Minister's re-election to the Lok Sabha with arecord margin of over two lakh votes has put the ruling Congress undertremendous pressure.

''We will continue to exert pressure on the Congress, which hadcome to power at the Centre and in the State encashing on the Telanganasentiment, to deliver on its promise to the Telangana people'', TRSspokesman Prakash told UNI.

The explanation of the ruling Congress leaders that UPAChairperson Sonia Gandhi was seized of the issue and striving her bestto evolve a broad consensus did not cut much ice with the voters as MrRao riding on a Telangana wave, polled 3.78 lakh votes as against 1.76lakh by the nearest rival T Jeevan Reddy of Congress.

The controversy surrounding the pictoral warning of 'skull andbones' on the beedi packs dealt a body blow to the Congress which wentto the bypoll, projecting the 'developmental' efforts of the StateGovernment in the beedi workers dominated Karimnagar constituency.

Mr Rao had quit the Manmohan Singh Government along with his partycolleague A Narendra in August this year protesting against the delayon the part of the UPA in taking a firm decision on the Telanganaissue.

UNI