Kiran Kumar Reddy Rejects Telangana Demand

CM N Kiran Kumar Reddy, in one of his strongest statements, said that the Telangana movement cannot be taken forward since politics cannot be the ground for carving out a separate state.

"The Telangana issue cannot be seen from the prism of politics. Politics cannot be the ground for the division of the state," he said on Tuesday.

According to the CM, no state can be divided or formulated until there is a consensus for it and a majority agrees to the proposal of division.

Meanwhile, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) will be returning to Hyderabad today, and his party thinks he will respond to those who oppose Telangana.

Speaking on this occasion, B Vinod Kumar, TRS politburo member, said, "When everybody including the CM is playing politics, what does he mean by saying that politics cannot be the grounds for dividing the state? If that is the case, why did his party include the creation of Telangana in the 2004 election manifesto? Why was the Srikrishna committee formed? And why did then Union home minister P Chidambaram make a statement on Telangana? Kiran has to justify all these."

Meanwhile the CM said that he would not tolerate any pressure of resignations exerted by the TJAC on Telangana ministers in his cabinet.

"Those who want to resign from the cabinet can convey their wish to the party state-in-charge and do so. However, resignations are personal decisions. But, if anybody exerts pressure on them or tries to influence them to resign, it is my responsibility to ensure that the ministers are protected," he said.

A positive Telanagana Joint Action Committee (TJAC), however, said that they would urge KCR to guide them and lead them forward in the existing situation.