Telangana leaders discuss their demand with Pranab Mukherjee

Senior leaders of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee here in context with their demand for the creation of a separate Telangana state.

Around twenty TRS leaders visited the residence of Mukherjee to convey their views over the issue of Telangana as no positive signs have been given to the leaders of TRS by the government over this issue.

Briefing media after meeting Mukherjee, Madhu Goud Yakshi, a legislator of Andhra Pradesh said that the meeting was to apprise the Finance Minister about the prevailing situation in Telangana.

"Ten ministers and ten MPs met Finance Minister, who is also in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs. We apprised him of the emergency situation, which he is fully aware of. He knows the factual position prevailing in Telangana districts, where completely public life is paralysed and he assured us that he will take up this issue with the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi and he also requested us whether they have met other core-committee leaders and he will take up this issue and hopefully very soon we will get some decision by the party high command and the government," Yakshi added

Earlier, TRS President K. Chandrasekhar Raso had threatened to prolong his agitation until the demand for a separate Telangana state is fulfilled.

Rao said: "Nobody is left behind. All the 7.5 lakh government employees are part to this agitation, ... the State Transport Corporation and State Electricity Board, lakhs and lakhs of employees are part of this agitation. All the Telangana doctors are participating, Telangana advocates are participating and innumerable number of organisations and people are participating in this agitation so this agitation; will continue till the agitation achieves its goal.

The four-decade-old demand for Telangana, which seeks to carve out of the economically less developed part of Andhra Pradesh, gathered momentum last year after the Congress-led UPA Government accepted the demand in principle.

Several protests and shutdowns had brought Andhra Pradesh to a near halt in 2009 and 2010, as pro-Telangana activists persisted with their demand.