TRS plans to launch Telangana TV

K Chandrasekhar Rao, president, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), a small political party in Andhra Pradesh, is planning to start a news channel, called Telangana TV, which aims to highlight problems of Telangana and focus on its culture.

Rao visited some studios in Hyderabad and Mumbai to scout for a suitable low cost channel. The TRS chief has been toying with the idea of starting a TV channel for quite some time now. He was encouraged after the launch of a newspaper and TV channel by ruling party members in Hyderabad.

The TRS leader and former MP, G. Vinod Kumar, who had accompanied the TRS chief in the search for a suitable TV channel, said that the channel would be based in Hyderabad. It will devote time for socioeconomic problems of Telangana and hold discussions on a several topics pertaining to the area besides focusing on its art and culture, he explained.

"We have undertaken a preliminary exercise and visited some channels including some religious ones which are functioning on moderate budgets to ascertain the cost and other details. A decision will be taken soon," Kumar said.

While Rao is in active politics, his daughter Kavita is promoting Telangana culture and cuisine through her "Telangana Jagruti" organisation. Kavita is presently organising Telangana Sambaralu in New Delhi. She will also have a role in the TV programmes.

It is researched that Telugu news channels enjoy higher popularity in Andhra Pradesh than national Hindi and English news channels. Regional channels in the Hyderabad market especially account for close to 65 per cent viewership.

Demand for Telangana likely to reverberate again

Demand for Telangana likely to reverberate again
NEW DELHI: Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s untimely death, less than five months after
leading Congress to a second consecutive term in Andhra Pradesh,is expected to
see a revival in the demand for a separate Telangana.

Till the time he remained in saddle, YSR was a vocal opponent of the demand. His intransigence on the issue forced TRS, which had joined hands with Congress on the eve of the 2004 general election, to walk out of the alliance subsequently and embrace TDP, which had, in the interregnum, jettisoned its traditional stance on the creation of a separate Telangana to come out in support of the proposal.

It was YSR’s fierce opposition to the demand which constrained the Congress’ central leadership to go slow on the issue. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha and assembly polls held earlier this year, YSR stirred a major row by asserting, in election rallies held in Kurnool, Chittoor and Nellore, that if TDP, backed by TRS, succeeded in forming the next government in the state, “the people from Rayalseema will be treated as foreigners in Hyderabad”.

The remarks triggered a furore, but YSR remained unfazed. It was left to Congress president Sonia Gandhi to take steps to undo the damage. “As far as Telangana is concerned, the CM has made a statement in the assembly, and Congress has also said in its election manifesto that it has no objection to the formation of a separate Telangana state, and we’ll take up the issue on priority,” she said in public meetings held subsequently in Karimnagar and Nalgonda.

YSR stunned his critics by pulling off a remarkable victory in the assembly polls. Congress not only surged past the half-way mark but also emerged as the most formidable player in the Telangana region, bagging 50 of the 119 seats. The TDP-TRS combine fared marginally worse, securing 49 seats, with TRS’ share being a meagre 10.

YSR’s return meant that the demand for a separate Telangana had been given a silent burial. His sudden and unexpected death, thus, is likely to give a fillip to the demand.

The other major political players in the state, including TDP and BJP, have already come out in support of the proposal. Congress, minus YSR, is likely to find it extremely difficult to continue resisting the demand.