Actress Vijayshanti to fast for Telangana

Hyderabad, Jan 4 (IANS) Popular Telugu film actress Vijayshanti Thursday announced she will launch an indefinite hunger strike here Jan 8 to press for a separate statehood to Telangana region.

Popularly known as 'lady Amitabh' for her action-oriented Telugu films, she said she would sit on hunger strike at the Indira Park.

The announcement came amid mounting demand for a separate Telangana following the recent win of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) president K. Chandrasekhara Rao with a thumping majority in by-election to the Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat.

Vijashanti, who had quit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2005 over the same issue and floated 'Telangana Talli' party last year, said she had not received any invitation from TRS to join the movement for separate state.

Meanwhile, the ruling Congress party Thursday said it was committed to the formation of a second state reorganisation committee (SRC) to look into the demand for separate Telangana.

Addressing a conclave of the party, Congress national general secretary and in-charge of the party affairs Digvijay Singh said the party had not deviated from its stand of second SRC.

He denied the TRS allegation that the Congress had gone back on its word and said the party had entered into an electoral understanding with TRS in 2004 on the basis of an agreement to form a second SRC.

Singh said it was for the government to decide on the issue. He said had TRS not insisted on formation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) sub-committee to work for consensus on the issue, the second SRC would have been formed long ago.

He asked party cadres not to be disappointed over the defeat in Karimnagar, saying sometime rational and development issues take a back seat due to emotive reasons.