Kadiam Srihari, who recently quit the main Opposition Telugu Desam Party, on Wednesday formally joined the Telangana Rashtra Samiti in the presence of party president K Chandrasekhar Rao.
“I have quit the TDP, which gave me political birth, to fight for the cause of my birthplace Telangana,” Srihari told the gathering on the occasion of joining the party. Srihari said NT Rama Rao had formed the TDP to ensure social justice. “But now the agenda of the people has changed and the people of the Telangana region want a separate State. I have changed the party to fight for the cause of Telangana State,” he said.
Srihari, who was among the senior most TDP leaders of Telangana region and served in key Ministries, gave a call to Telangana leaders of Congress and the YSR Congress to quit and join the TRS. Srihari hails from Warangal district, the hotbed of Telangana movement.
Welcoming Srihari into the party fold, K Chandrasekhar Rao said that Srihari was a respected Dalit leader deserving a much bigger position than mere MlA or MP. He said that Srihari joining the TRS was not an ordinary event but it will change the course of politics in the region and will go a long way in strengthening the struggle for the separate State.
“Now there is a need for all the people of the Telangana region to unite to achieve the separate State,” he said. “There should also be a debate on whether the Telangana region needs Andhra parties,” he said targeting the TDP and the YSR Congress. He described them as anti-Telangana parties.
“There is no way other than formation of Telangana. We will win 16 lok Sabha and 100 Assembly seats in the region in coming elections to force the hands of New Delhi,” he said.
KCR promised that on coming to power in Telangana State, his party will build 10 thermal power plants in the region to overcome the power crisis and provide eight hours free power to farmer everyday. He also promised waiving the loans of the farmers.
Meanwhile, another senior TDP leader from Warangal E Daykar Rao denied the reports that he too was going to join the TRS. “These are baseless rumours,” he said. Dayakar Rao, who is the leader of the Telangana Forum in the TDP said that he along with other Telangana leaders will call on the Governor ESl Narasimhan to demand setting up a steel plant in the Telangana region to utilise the iron ore reserves of Bayyaram of Khammam district.