December 1, 2004 (Hyderabad):

Union Minister K Chandrashekar Rao has gone hi-tech in putting pressure on the UPA government for a separate state of Telangana.

Video CDs explain why his party, the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti wants a separate state.

"We will send the CDs to all newspapers and TV channels in the country. We will also send it to all MLAs in the country," said Rao.

Rao not only plans to make 15,000 copies of the CD and distribute them across the country but he has also roped in his ministerial colleague and Maratha strongman, Sharad Pawar to support his cause.

"It is possible. We have seen Punjab being split into two," said Sharad Pawar, Agriculture minister.

With the NCP too pitching for a separate Vidharbha, Pawar and Rao may have struck a new political equation.

But it certainly is not good news for the Congress as more and more UPA allies have started forming their own pressure groups.