By IANS,
Hyderabad : Leaders of the ruling Congress party from Telangana and president of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) K. Chandrasekhara Rao Wednesday said they were ready for “any sacrifice” if the terms of reference of the Srikrishna committee were not for the formation of Telangana state.
As the Congress party’s core committee discussed the panel’s terms of reference at a meeting in New Delhi, Telangana leaders of the Congress and the TRS discussed their future course of action here.
The TRS chief told reporters that they would not accept the commission’s terms of reference if they are not favourable for carving out Telangana state.
“The terms of reference should be to fulfil the Dec 9 statement of Home Minister Chidambaram that the process for formation of Telangana state will be initiated. The committee should also have a limited time-frame,” he said.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known by the initials of his name, said the all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) would meet to chalk out its strategy if the commission’s terms of reference were not favourable for Telangana.
“We are ready for any sacrifice,” said Congress legislator R. Damodar Reddy.
KCR and other TRS leaders held talks with Congress Working Committee (CWC) member K. Keshava Rao, Congress MPs and legislators from Telangana.
The meeting assumed significance as it came a day after a section of Congress legislators from Telangana threatened to boycott the budget session of the assembly beginning Feb 15, if the terms of reference were not favourable for Telangana.
The central governmnet Feb 3 announced a five-member panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna to deliberate on a mechanism for a separate Telangana state.
The Congress core committee, which met at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is believed to have finalised the terms of reference of the panel. Congress sources said these would be brought to the notice of the union cabinet and a formal announcement is expected in a day or two.