Ruling out any reconsideration of Telangana Rasthra Samithi supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao's decision to quit Lok Sabha membership, a senior party leader has said that the coming by-election in Karimnagar will be a 'referendum' on the demand for separate state for Telangana.

"The bypoll outcome will clearly reflect the yearning of the people of Telangana for statehood," TRS legislator T Harish Rao said in Sangareddy town on Friday.

Discounting speculation that the TRS president might change his mind and withdraw his resignation in the wake of appeals by Congress central leaders, he said: "The question does not arise. We want to go to people and expose the betrayal of Congress."

The TRS chief had on September 13 sent in his resignation letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and had challeged state Congress leaders to follow suit and seek fresh mandate. Though two Congress Ministers -- M Satyanarayana Rao and Mohammad Ali Shabbir -- accepted the challenge and offered to resign, the party high command stepped in to defuse the situation and called for restraint.

Meanwhile, the TRS leaders on Friday demonstrated before district collectorates across Telangana region to protest against the government's alleged failure to ensure adequate power supply to farmers and save the standing crops. The mood in the TRS camp is upbeat ever since their leader made the daring move that caught the Congress off-guard.