TDP may pull out of Telangana JAC

Hyderabad, March 8 : Angry over the boycott call of Heritage Food products owned by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu's wife, the party is contemplating pulling out of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC).

JAC convener M. Kodandaram has appealed to people to boycott Heritage Food products unless Naidu tenders an apology for the attack on Telangana lawyers.

Heritage Food is owned by N. Bhuvwaneswari, wife of the former chief minister and TDP president Naidu.

Naidu is holding discussions with party leaders from the region and he may take a decision on pulling out of JAC, party sources said.

The TDP workers had attacked a group of lawyers here Saturday when they tried to disrupt Naidu's speech at a protest programme organised by TDP and two Communist parties against price rise. The lawyers were demanding that Naidu spell out his stand on the demand for a separate Telangana.

Naidu has not only refused to apologise to lawyers but alleged that Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) was behind the protest. TDP leaders also claimed that Kodandaram was working at the behest of TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who was targeting the TDP but was soft towards the Congress.

If TDP decides to pull out of JAC, this would be the second major setback for JAC, formed by all parties in December to jointly fight for a separate Telangana state.

The ruling Congress snapped ties with the JAC, accusing Kodandaram of taking unilateral decisions and acting as Chandrasekhara Rao's postman.