HYDERABAD, 29 May — The issue of a separate Telangana to be carved out of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh continued to dominate the proceedings for the second day at the Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) three-day annual conference in Vishakhapatnam.
Chandrababu Naidu has been re-elected for a two-year term.
A day after TDP president and the state Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu rejected the demand, the conference yesterday passed a resolution urging the state government to come out with a time-bound package for the development of the backward region.
Earlier, Naidu was unanimously reelected TDP chief for another two year term.
Naidu, who did not take the name of Telangana on the first day, yesterday appeared to have softened his stance and said that his government will not rest till Telangana comes on par with the developed regions of the state. He accepted the demand for time-bound package as former Union minister and member of parliament from Adilabad district Venugopal Chary moved a resolution in this regard.
Naidu, in his concluding remarks in a debate on a resolution on “backward areas” ruled out a separate Telangana state and said that the demand was the result of political opportunism of the Congress party and that the people of the state would teach a lesson to the party.
Though the demand for separate state has picked up momentum due to the movement launched by former Deputy Speaker K. Chandrasekhar Rao, Naidu was surprisingly silent and did not take the name of either Rao or his Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS).
