Sonia Gandhi says formation of Telangana was approved by all parties save CPM

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Friday said that all political parties except for the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPM had given their views in favour of formation of Telangana.

"I want to tell you that all political parties except for the CPM were in favour of the bifurcation. Even late chief minister of Andhra, YSR Rajashekhara Reddy himself had made Congress's positions clear in the 2009 state assembly that he was not against Telangana," said Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Guntur.

"Although, I understand the anger of some people of Andhra, who are not very happy with this decision, this issue had been going on for quite long, and we had to take some concrete decision regarding this," she said.

"This region symbolizes India's secular values and teaches everyone to live in peace and brotherhood with people of different backgrounds. The formation of Telangana has finally become a reality," she added.

She also said that the reorganization of the state had been done in a fair and just way.

"This reorganization has been done in a manner to fully protect the interests of Seemandhra. The UPA and many party colleagues have worked very hard to ensure that full fairness is given to the state," she added.