Congress colluded with TRS over Telangana issue: BJP

Hyderabad, Jan 14 (UNI) Alleging that the ruling Congress and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) were ''cheating'' the people by not realising the dream of Telangana state, BJP National Secretary N Indrasena Reddy today said leaders of both the parties had ''colluded'' and were making 'controversial and diverting' statements on the issue.

Addressing the press here, Mr Reddy alleged that some Congress leaders, under the leadership of AICC President Sonia Gandhi, were ''playing drama'' on Telangana issue by saying that they would quit the party if the Centre constituted the second State Re-organisation Commission (SRC) for the formation of Telangana.

He said the leaders, including CWC member and MP G Venkataswami, who recently threatened to quit the MP post if the second SRC was constituted, were not pressing for the formation of Telangana without SRC. The statements of the Congress high command and state Congress leaders were creating confusion among the people, he added.

Alleging that TRS President and former Union Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao was also ''playing a drama'' by saying that he did not read the 'agreement paper' signed by the Congress and the TRS to form an alliance during the 2004 elections, Mr Reddy demanded that the TRS President should give an explanation to the people on this statement.

BJP National Secretary Sheshagiri Rao, who was also present, said the Telangana issue would be solved with a political decision and not by constituting the second SRC. He alleged that if the second SRC was constituted, the UPA would appoint Marxist intellectuals, who were opposing separate Telangana, as its members.

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