YSR Congress, CPI-M call for undivided Andhra

The YSR Congress party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) Wednesday met the Group of Ministers and strongly opposed proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Leaders of the two parties conveyed their opinion to the GoM, which continued meeting representatives of political parties for the second day. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) did not send its leaders to meet the GoM to protest what it called the "unilateral" manner in which the central government is going ahead with the process of bifurcation.

CPI-M leaders were the first to meet the GoM. The party's state secretary B.V. Raghavulu and J. Ranga Reddy conveyed to the ministerial group that the party is opposed to the proposed bifurcation.

Raghavulu told reporters after the meeting that they urged the GoM to keep the state undivided. They also made certain suggestions to solve the problems of backward regions, including Telangana.

YSR Congress party leaders M.V. Mysoora Reddy and G. Ramchandra Rao, during their meeting with the GoM, strongly opposed the central government decision to bifurcate the state. They explained to the ministers the problems that would arise from to state's division.

Mysoora Reddy wondered why the centre wants to divide only Andhra Pradesh when there were demands for separate states in many parts of the country. He alleged that the state was being split for "votes and seats".

Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily and Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V. Narayanasamy heard the views of the parties.

With this, the GoM completed the meetings with eight political parties from the state. It Tuesday met leaders of five political parties. While four of these backed the decision to carve out a separate Telangana state, the Congress was divided on the issue. Its one representative demanded immediate steps for formation of a separate Telangana while the other opposed the bifurcation.

The GoM constituted by the centre last month is looking into issues related to bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and formation of a Telangana state.