Hyderabad, Oct. 20: In a surprising climbdown after the clear victory of the Congress in Maharashtra, the TRSLP on Wednesday said the party was prepared to wait for even two or three years for Statehood for Telangana, if AICC president Sonia Gandhi gave a firm commitment.

“There is no definite time frame for the formation of the Telangana State. If Sonia gives us a firm assurance to form the State but asks us to wait for two or three years, we are prepared to wait,” TRSLP secretary E Rajender told mediapersons. This is the exact opposite of TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s threat: KCR had said in the run-up to the Maharashtra elections that the TRS would take to the streets if Sonia did not concede Statehood for Telangana. He even said the TRS would drag “Sonia to the streets” if Telangana was not granted, triggering loud protests from the Congress.

But the Maharashtra victory, where the Vidarbha issue did not figure and Statehood advocate Ranjit Deshmukh lost, tamed the TRS even further. When KCR’s threat was brought Rajender’s notice, he said KCR was only referring to Sonia’s assurance. If the assurance materialises, the process for separate Telangana would begin by December. “We have complete faith in Sonia,” he said. He evaded a reply when asked whether Sonia had not given firm assurance on Telangana till date.

Rajender expressed dissatisfaction over the way the State government was deliberately ignoring the interests of Telangana and looking down upon TRS. The government had totally ignored the objections of the TRS on the Pulichintala project, he said.

..DC