Cheers rang out across the Telangana region and the TRS president, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, called off his 11-day-old fast after the Centre announced late on Wednesday night that it was initiating the process for the formation of the separate state of Telangana after 50 years of struggle.
Overjoyed groups of people danced in the streets and burst crackers as Mr Rao, very weak and breaking down often, said five decades of struggle had come to a conclusion and paid homage to Telangana martyrs. He broke his fast by accepting a glass of juice offered by the Telangana idealogue, Prof. Jayashanker.
Earlier, the home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, told mediapersons that the "process of formation of the state of Telengana would be initiated" and that a resolution for this would be moved in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for the purpose. Mr Chidambaram announced no time-frame for the formation of the new state.
Some loose ends remained to be tied up. The TRS wants a resolution to be passed in the Assembly in the ongoing session and a bill in Parliament in a time bound manner.
Though the Centre is agreeable to moving an Assembly resolution, it has not clarified on the demand for the Parliament bill.
Mr Chidambaram appealed to Mr Rao to end his fast, and said that the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, had been instructed to withdraw all cases registered against the TRS leader and students. "He said he will take necessary action in this regard," said the Union home minister.
Mr Rosaiah, who airdashed from Delhi, was expected to call on Mr Rao to convey a message from the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, on the steps initiated for the formation of Telangana.
However, the Chief Minister apparently decided to put off the meeting till Thursday. Soon after, the TRS politburo held an emergency meeting at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences to urge Mr Rao to call off the fast, the Telangana leader called off the fast. Mr Rao, in his first remarks, thanked all those who had supported the agitation, Mrs Gandhi and the Prime Minister and the BJP leader, Mr L.K. Advani. He said he would
soon visit Delhi to carry forward the initiative.
His son, Mr K.T. Rama Rao, said moving a resolution in the Assembly was not enough and asked the Centre to introduce a bill in Parliament for this.
The home minister’s statements came after day-long consultations and discussions in Delhi to defuse the tense situation in Andhra Pradesh.
The core group of the Congress studying the issue of separate statehood for Telangana met in the Parliamentary Party Office and in the midst of the meeting, Mr Chidambaram called up KCR and requested him to call off the fast.
However, KCR told the senior Congress leader that he needed a time-bound assurance from the Congress.
Following this, the core group met for the second time.
The Union defence minister, Mr A.K, Antony, Mr Chidambaram and the union law minister, Mr Veerappa Moily, then drove to Mrs Gandhi’s residence where Mr Rosaiah was expected.
Mr Rosaiah told mediapersons before the meeting that the Centre would take the final decision by factoring in all issues.
Around 16 Congress MPs belonging to both the Houses of Parliament also met the Prime Minister and demanded constitution of a separate Telangana state.
Following the meeting at Mrs Gandhi’s residence the senior cabinet ministers along with Mr Rosaiah once again left for the Prime Minister’s residence and were closeted there for more than an hour.
A senior leader said the Centre may make a statement in the Parliament and was also considering an all-party meet here to resolve the issue.
The PCC chief, Mr D. Srinivas, also met the Chief Minister at Andhra Bhavan in the capital and expressed the hope that KCR would heed the request of the core group.
Apart from TRS activists and students, Prof Haragopal, Prof Kodandaram, Balladeer Gaddar and others also requested KCR to end fast. They made it clear to him that he need to live to achieve Telangana.
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