Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ch. Vidyasagar Rao has defended the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) in its representation to the Srikrishna committee that status quo ante as on November 1, 1956, form the basis for creation of Telangana.
Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr. Rao said ‘ status quo ante ' actually meant isolation of Telugu-speaking areas of the Hyderabad State that were eventually merged with Andhra. The Nizam had expressed his support to such a region for the purpose of creating a new State when Hyderabad was annexed to the Indian Union on September 17, 1948.
Mr. Rao criticised the argument of Congress leaders from coastal districts that Telangana would slip into the hands of feudal lords if it was accorded Statehood and said it lacked logic because there was not a single instance of landlordism in the region.
