TRS MPs claimed state had received ‘raw deal’

The four-day boycott of Parliament by members of Parliament belonging to the TRS has yielded the desired result.

The Centre announced that Telangana will get an All India Institute of Medical Science, something the TRS has been demanding for the past two-and-a-half years.

TRS MPs have been boycotting this session and making a case before finance minister Arun Jaitley and home minister Rajnath Singh that the Centre had given Telangana a raw deal and warned that if this attitude continued, they may have to start an agitation.

So at the request of Arun Jaitley, TRS’ LS leader Jitender Reddy attended the House on Thursday. At the end of a reply by the minister on the Budget, Mr Reddy addressed the minister: “Sir, what about AIIMS for Telangana?” “We are giving it,” Mr Jaitley said.

After the House adjourned, Mr Reddy spoke to the media and thanked the Centre for at last conceding to his party’s demand for AIIMS. He said the party will fight to get other demands met — such as bifurcation of the High Court, All India Service Officers allotment and on 9th and 10th scheduled institutions listed in the AP Reorganisation Act.

A senior TRS MP said Mr Jaitley had also conveyed that he will arrange an appointment for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to meet Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in a week’s time.