TJAC takes battle to Delhi, holds round table

HYDERABAD: As part of its plan to build pressure on the central government by organising a series of programmes in the national capital, the Telangana Joint Action Committee conducted a round table conference on Chapter-VIII of Srikrishna Committee report in Delhi on Sunday.BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman, representatives of several other political parties and a cross-section of people participated in the meeting.Almost all the speakers criticised the Congress-led UPA government’s approach to the Telangana imbroglio and alleged that the government had constituted the Justice BN Srikrishna Committee with the intention of denying statehood to Telangana.Referring to Chapter-VIII of the committee’s report, they wondered how a former Supreme Court Judge could present such a report. Several speakers demanded that the government make public the controversial chapter. “Maintaining secrecy goes against the spirit and provisions of the Right to Information Act,’’ they said.The TJAC is keen on taking the Telangana battle to Delhi with the support of several political parties and people’s organisations. Already, several political and non-political organisations have declared their support for the Telangana statehood demand.The TJAC leadership’s game plan is that if they conduct the agitation under the very nose of the central government, it will build pressure on the UPA and compel it to take notice of the aspirations of the people of the region, TJAC leaders say.The Telangana Joint Action Committee views June to be a very crucial time for the Telangana movement and believes that the government may take a final decision to resolve the tangle during the month. To keep the heat in the national capital it started a unit in Delhi whichorganised several programmes in Delhi in the last few months. Advocates, employees and journalists staged protests in Delhi, drawing national attention to their cause. Now, the TJAC plans to lead delegations of government engineers, doctors and lecturers, and organise protest programmes. The TJAC also plans to organise students’ rally in the national capital.With the TJAC conducting activities in Delhi, Congress MPs from the region are forced to stay in Delhi from June 1 to 15 to exert pressure on the Centre to corner glory and deny any credit to the TRS or TJAC.Meanwhile, TJAC chairman M Kodandaram told reporters here on Sunday that they would intensify the Telangana movement from June 15 and target the Congress and Telugu Desam.“We want to force both the parties to take active part in the Telangana movement and to build pressure on their respective party leaderships for a favourable decision on Telangana. The TJAC has not jettisoned or slowed down the movement but is conducting the movement with a particular strategy,” he said.The TJAC chairman reiterated his demand that TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu should declare his stand on Telangana at the party’s Mahanadu conference.