Arriving New Delhi to attend an all-party meeting convened by the Centre on Tuesday, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said he will meet leaders of national and other regional parties in a bid to enlist their support for Telangana statehood. Rao, who arrived in New Delhi along with party ideologue K Jayshankar, said he was optimistic that a separate state of Telangana will be formed.
"I am optimistic (about the creation of a separate state of Telangana)," he told reporters in reply to a specific query. "The process has just begun. Everything goes by constitution. I am optimistic on the Telangana issue," Rao said asked whether there is any time-frame for the creation of Telangana.
The TRS chief, who is the political face of the Telangana agitation, said besides attending the meeting convened by the Centre to discuss Telangana issue he will also hold, during his stay in Delhi for a week, discussions with like-minded parties to drum up support for the separate state.
"I will be here for a week and I will be meeting leaders of national and other regional parties to drum up support for Telangana cause... We will meet as many leaders as possible," he said.
Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad before leaving for Delhi, he said he would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and Opposition Leader Sushma Swaraj.
The Centre has convened a meeting of 8 recognised political parties here on Tuesday in a bid to find a way out of the Telangana imbroglio. The TRS chief said the Tuesday meeting will show the "true colours" of other parties on the Telangana issue.
He was apparently referring to TDP and PRP which have made a U-turn on the issue after promising to support the creation of Telangana. "The entire nation is watching the events as it unfolds. The attitude and true colours of the political parties will be out at the meeting on Tuesday," he said.
Rao will also meet leaders like Lalu Prasad (RJD, Sharad Pawar (NCP), Ajit Singh (RLD) and A B Bardhan (CPI) to seek their support on the vexed Telangana issue. Asked about the protests and agitation in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions against bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Rao said these are bound to happen whenever a new state is formed. "Agitations are common during the formation of any state. These are common.... But I am optimistic on Telangana," he said. PTI
