UPA panel meets on Telangana statehood

A meeting of the UPA coordination committee began here Tuesday evening to discuss creation of a separate Telangana state amid indications that the Congress-led government was favourably inclined to it.

The meeting began at the prime minister's official residence and is being attended by constituents of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), National Conference (NC) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).

The UPA coordination committee meeting will be followed by a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) that is expected to take the final decision about carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.

Ahead of the meetings, Congress spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury said: "Some decision may or may not be arrived at."

Minister of Human Resource Development M.M. Pallam Raju indicated that the party leadership was inclined towards taking a decision in favour of a separate Telangana state.

"The Congress core committee has discussed the issue at length. Whatever decision, it is going to have long-term implications. We are worried about it," he said.

Pallam Raju and union ministers K.S. Rao, Chiranjeevi and D. Purandeshwari (all from coastal Andhra Pradesh) Saturday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and told him there would be repercussions not only for the state but for the entire country if the state was divided.

Congress leaders from Telangana are confident that a decision will be taken for the creation of a new state.