Telangana state issue: Andhra ministers, lawmakers meet PM

Mministers and Members of Parliament from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday and reportedly expressed their opposition to any move to create a separate state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh.

Union Ministers M M Pallam Raju, K S Rao, Chiranjeevi and D Purandeshwari were among those who met Prime Minister Singh.

Members of Parliament Bapiraju and Anantarami Reddy were also part of the United Andhra delegation that called on the Prime Minister, who gave them a patient hearing.

The delegation is said to have conveyed to the Prime Minister that the creation of a Telangana state would not be in the interest of Andhra Pradesh or the country.

Satyurday's meeting came a day after the Congress leadership at the Centre had discussions with their Andhra representatives over the issue.

Earlier, AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digivijaya Singh and his predecessor Ghulam Nabi Azad held separate discussions with state Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and Deputy chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.

The two leaders are understood to have conveyed to the state leadership that the party has made up its mind on creation of Telangana and it was only a matter of time before it is announced.

The discussions were followed by deliberations held in the Core Group meeting held at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Congress president Sonia Gandhi chaired the meeting which was also attended by senior Cabinet ministers A K Antony, P Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde.

Sources said the party and the UPA government was in favour of a division of the state, which could be decided after the completion of the local bodies elections this month end.

The decision could be announced in the first week of August and may be formalised at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) after which the issue could go to Parliament for passage of a bill for the purpose.

Bapiraju said the delegation told the Prime Minister that formation of Telangana will create problems in many states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh where there are demands for separate statehood.

Meanwhile, JAC convenor Kordandaram has been arrested by the police during a "March of Millions" protest for a separate Telangana state in Hyderabad.

The seed for a separate Telangana was not sowed in the recent past. The history of this geographical struggle goes way back to the times of independance, infact it precedes that.

The issue is simple. In 1953, a commission was setup and the state boundaries were reorganized. At that time the present day Andra Pradesh was split into two broad parts namely Seemandra (Andra) and Telangana. The top priority of the commission was to merge these two into one 'united Andhra Pradesh'. The commission, even while stating that the Telangana population was against the merger to form a larger unit, went ahead and did it. So was born the present day Andhra Pradesh.

Even though both the parts spoke the same language, their accent, customs and festivals varied. Instead of joining hands over their commonality they chose to go separate ways citing their diversity. As Andhra region comprised of 9 coastal districts, it rose in power and prosperity, while Telangana struggled.

The Telengana fight started as a peasants movement to reverse the merger and slowly gained momentum which often resulted in violence in various parts of Andra pradesh at various points of time. Accodring to some reports in just over the past three years 300 youths were killed, some reports say 1000. Whatever the figure may be, lives are at stake when it comes to Telangana issue.

The main players are the Telangana Rashtra Samiti(TRS), which wants a separate Telangana. The BJP is also in favour of a separate state for the people of the Telangana region, while the Congress is yet to take a decision on the issue.