Telangana activists soften stand on Chandrababu padayatra

Telangana activists soften stand on Chandrababu padayatra

With pro-Telangana agitators climbing down from their strident posturing, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu will have a smooth passage into Telangana region when his padayatra enters Rajoli in Mahbubnagar district on Monday afternoon. After making all the noise in the last few days, the Telangana JAC's threats fizzled out. In what could be a match-fixing, TJAC will now organise a token protest only and won't stop Naidu from entering Telangana. 

With the TRS also playing neutral, the TDP camp is buoyant. Several TDP leaders, including 30 party MLAs from the region, would be at hand to receive Naidu at Rajoli. TJAC had earlier planned to organize a protest rally at Rajoli demanding that Naidu make his stand clear on the separate statehood issue. 

TJAC chairman M Kodandaram defended their `strategy' to mellow down on Naidu's yatra. He said Naidu was undertaking the padayatra to highlight people's problems in the state. "We don't want to obstruct the padayatra. If we try to stop him, it would lead to unnecessary trouble and dilute the Telangana cause. We have decided not to stop him, but will stage a protest demanding clarity on Telangana," he said. He called upon people to demand from Naidu as to where does his party stand on Telangana during the entire stretch of his padayatra in the region. 

On the other hand, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which initially had planned to obstruct Naidu's walkathon, revised its plans, fearing it would only give mileage to the TDP. "As a political party we have decided not to protest and we leave it to the people's conscience to question Naidu on his anti-Telangana stand," said TRS legislator T Harish Rao. 

Buoyed by the developments, TDP leaders of Telangana are gearing up to receive Naidu in a big way.