Film actor Chiranjeevi has at long last broken his silence on the vexed Telangana issue, saying he would not oppose creation of the State if the Centre initiated measures for bifurcation.

He urged the people of Telangana to pressure the Centre to speed up the process. Addressing whistlestop meetings during his Praja Ankita Yatra in Karimnagar district, the actor-turnedpolitician lashed out at parties ‘‘using the Telangana card only to benefit politically’’.

At the same time, Chiranjeevi dropped enough hints that his party would not fight for creation of the State.

In other words, it would neither take initiative to push forward the ongoing movement for T nor come in the way if the State Assembly and Parliament decided in favour of it.

Meanwhile, the actor’s articulation of his party’s position on the Statehood question has set off reactions among all others in the State. The Congress reacted with caution and warned its leaders against commenting on it, even as the TRS said that if the Congress took a decision it would have no objection to working with it in the next election.

The TDP, for its part, claimed that it was only after it took a position on Telangana that other parties were falling in line. ‘‘We knew that Chiranjeevi would take this stand,’’ TDP Parliamentary Party leader K Yerran Naidu maintained.

In New Delhi, meanwhile, Congress general secretary and AP affairs incharge Veerappa Moily claimed: ‘‘The Congress is committed to the formation of a separate State. If Telangana is not a reality already, it is because of the TDP delaying the decision, and the TRS lacking patience and pulling out of the UPA.’’ ‘‘Chiranjeevi is beating around the bush. He is not saying clearly whether he would take steps for the creation of the State,’’ was the comment from APSRTC chairman and senior Congress leader M Satyanarayana Rao, who hails from the district in which the actor broke his ‘Statehood’ silence.

Nizamabad MP and AICC secretary Madhu Yaskhi, however, said he welcomed Chiranjeevi’s statement and felt it would pressure all parties to take steps for the creation of a separate State. TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao also congratulated Chiranjeevi for making the announcement and looked forward to a bill being introduced in the next session of Parliament. CPI state secretary K Narayana said Chiranjeevi took the decision in favour of Telangana because there was no alternative left either for the film actor or, for that matter, for any political party.