TRS warns centre against making Hyderabad a union territory

HYDERABAD - Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao Friday warned the central and Andhra Pradesh government against any proposal to make Hyderabad a union territory.

He made it clear that a separate Telangana state without Hyderabad as the capital would not be acceptable to people of Telangana. “Telangana state without Hyderabad will be a body without head. I am warning the prime minister and chief minister that any such proposal will have disastrous consequences,” he said while addressing a party meeting.

The Mahabubnagar MP’s warning came amid reports in a section of media that the centre could accept a proposal by the Srikrishna committee, which is looking into the demand for Telangana statehood, to make Hyderabad a union territory while bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.

The Srikrishna committee is scheduled to submit its report to the central government by Dec 31.

“We want Telangana state as it existed in 1956. We will not accept an inch less than our territory,” said KCR, as the TRS chief is popularly known.

Telangana, part of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad, was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh, a state for Telugu speaking people with Hyderabad as its capital.

Meanwhile, Telangana leaders of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party met the Srikrishna committee in New Delhi and made it clear that Telangana without Hyderabad as its capital would not be acceptable.

Telangana leaders of the ruling Congress have also strongly opposed the proposal to make Hyderabad a union territory.