HYDERABAD: Ministers from the Telangana region today appealed to TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao to call off his fast-on-to-death which led to unrest in the region for the past on week, leading to loss of lives and property, and ruining the future of students.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah convened a meeting with the ministers hailing from Telangana region at the Secretariat here today to discuss the agitation. The ministers held discussions for more than two hours on the condition of Chandrasekhar Rao’s health and also the measures needed to be taken for tackling the unrest.
The involvement of students in the movement has become a major headache to the government as they continue to participate in the agitational programmes despite the closure of universities and affiliated colleges. Officials were asked to be cautious while dealing with students and also investigate into the alleged infiltration of anti-social elements into the agitation.
Speaking to mediapersons, Major Irrigation Minister P Lakshmaiah said that Chandrasekhar Rao should consider the appeal made by the State Government and call off his hunger strike. `` The agitation launched by one particular party (TRS) cannot influence other parties. If they (TRS leaders) think so, the government cannot help it,’’ he said. The Congress was not opposed to statehood for Telangana and the issue was under the consideration of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, he said.
Responding to a query, Lakshmaiah said that the ministers from Telangana region had no plan to meet Sonia Gandhi or Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the statehood issue as the chief minister K Rosaiah had already briefed them. He refused to comment on whether the government would try again to persuade the TRS chief to call of his fast.