Telangana meet: TRS calls it a 'futile exercise'

New Delhi: Unhappy with the outcome of the meeting convened by Centre on Telangana issue, TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao on Friday termed it as a "futile exercise" while announcing a Telangana bandh on Saturday to protest against the government's attitude towards the demand for a separate state.

Rao, the political face of the Telangana separate statehood agitation for the past few years, said he was just "not satisfied" with the Centre's announcement that a decision will be taken in a month's time. "They have said this over a hundred times. They have not fulfilled their promises. They have cheated the people of Telangana again," he told reporters after coming out of the meeting chaired by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde in New Delhi.

The meeting, which was attended by representatives from registered political parties in Andhra Pradesh, saw all parties sticking to their own stands. While TRS supported the creation of a separate Telangana, Congress, TDP and YSR Congress remained ambivalent on their stands. Calling the meeting a "futile exercise", the TRS chief announced a day-long Telangana bandh tomorrow to condemn the Centre's attitude against the people of the region in Andhra Pradesh.

"This is not acceptable. We are not happy with the meeting at all. All parties reiterated their known stands. No one said anything new in the meeting," he said. The Telangana bandh would have the support of Telangana Joint Action Committees, Rao said and added that the future course of action would be decided by Friday evening.

Rao is in the forefront of the agitation for carving out a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh ever since 2001 and his indefinite fast in 2009 led the Centre to announce that it would initiate steps for the formation of a separate state.

However, the decision was put on hold in view of "changed circumstances" in the state as people from non-Telangana regions were opposed to the move. The Centre then appointed the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee to go into the situation in Andhra Pradesh. The Committee concluded that a united Andhra Pradesh was the best possible solution. Ever since there has been no meetings or decision on the issue.