By IANS
Hyderabad : With the ruling Congress planning to constitute second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) much against the wishes of its own leaders from Telangana region, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday launched protest against the move.
The TRS and the BJP staged separate demonstrations in Hyderabad and Mahabubnagar, condemning the Congress move.
TRS protestors set afire effigy of the Congress and raised slogans against the ruling party. They warned they would make difficult for Congress leaders to step into the region.
Students wing of the TRS also staged a protest in Osmania University campus here and alleged that the Congress was once again betraying the people of the region.
Meanwhile, the BJP has announced it would launch a signature campaign in favour of separate statehood to the backward region.
BJP national secretary and former union minister Vidyasagar Rao announced Thursday that the signature campaign would be launched Jan 13 in all 10 districts of the region.
The party, which declared its support to the demand for separate Telangana state after parting ways with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) following 2004 elections, said the state be carved out before the next year’s election.
Rao alleged that the Congress party was trying to delay the process of formation of separate state through second SRC. “The Congress deliberately sent its leader Veerappa Moily here with the proposal of second SRC because the Telangana movement is gaining strength,” he said.
Moily had told newsmen here Wednesday that the second SRC was under serious consideration of the Congress-led UPA government.
The second SRC will look into demands for formation of smaller states, including Telangana and Vidarbha (in Maharashtra).
Rao warned that the BJP would launch a movement against the second SRC, as this would be the betrayal of the people of the region.
The move for second SRC is facing opposition within the ruling party with senior leaders from the region warning the central leadership that this would affect the party’s prospects in the next year’s elections.