Different strokes on Telangana

Representatives of eight political parties have only given their piece of mind to the Centre at the all-party meeting convened by Home Minister P Chidambaram on Telangana issue, but gave their own version before the media after the meeting.

Chief Minister K Rosaiah, as usual, was at his elusive best, saying that he did not want to say anything. He refused to comment when asked whether there was a resolution on the Telangana issue in the meeting. All that he said was that the law and order situation in the state is under control. “I have not been in the state for two days. But I have been speaking to the officials. Now the situation is under control,” he said.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhara Rao said his party would wait for Centre’s final stand on the issue before making a comment, while Praja Rajyam Party president Chiranjeevi expressed dissatisfaction over the meeting. He reiterated that his party stood for a united Andhra Pradesh.

Bharatiya Janata Party president Bandaru Dattatreya and his Andhra colleague Haribabu said they wanted bifurcation of the state for the better development of both the regions. They said they had told Chidambaram that the party would support the Bill on Telangana introduced in the next session of Parliament.

Telangana: No consensus at all-party meeting

The all-party meeting on Telangana convened by Home Minister P Chidambaram in New Delhi ended on Tuesday (January 5) with leaders appealing for maintaining peace, harmony and law order in Andhra Pradesh.

"We representatives of 8 recognised political parties of Andhra Pradesh attended the meeting convened by the Home Minister. We have expressed our views at the meeting and they have been noted by the Central government.

"Meanwhile, it is our earnest appeal that peace, harmony and law and order should be maintained in the state," said a joint statement, signed by leaders, issued at the end of the meeting.

No decision was taken at the meeting after which TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters "we are waiting for the final response".

Praja Rajyam chief Chiranjeevi said he had made clear his party's stand that it stood for a united Andhra Pradesh. "It is only the beginning of the process," he said without elaborating.

Asked if he was satisfied with the meeting, he said "to some extent." BJP state unit chief Bandaru Dattatreya said the UPA and the Congress party should make their stand clear on the Telangana issue.

He quoted the Home Minister as saying that he would convey the views of the leaders expressed in the meeting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after which the road map for the consultations process would be drawn.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister K Rosaiah, TRS leader K K S Rao and Uttamkumar Reddy (both Cong) and Y Ramakrishna Du and R Prakash (both TDP), state BJP unit chief Bandaru Dattareya and his colleague Hari Babu, B V Raghavalu and J Rangareddy (CPI-M), K Narayanan and Malesh (CPI) and Asaduddin Owaisi and Akbaruddin Owaisi of MIM also attended the meeting.