Telangana issue: Centre to involve all stakeholders

The Congress Core Group's two-hour-long discussion on Telangana on Friday evening at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence remained inconclusive, as it was felt that there was need for some more consultations at the national level.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader K. Chandrashekhara Rao, who flew in to the capital on Friday night, is scheduled to meet Dr. Singh on Saturday. The government, informed sources said, wanted to take all stakeholders on board before taking a final decision on an issue that has brought a third of Andhra Pradesh to a halt.

The meeting was held a few hours after Union Health Minister and general secretary-in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to hand over a report on Telangana, based on his discussions with people from three regions of the State — coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana.

Indeed, Mr. Azad, who is not a member of the Congress Core Group, was invited to attend its deliberations. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram, Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Congress president's political secretary Ahmed Patel were present. For Ms. Gandhi, it was the first Core Group meeting she has attended since her return from the U.S., where she underwent surgery in early August.

The sources told The Hindu that Mr. Azad's report urged the government to take a swift decision on Telangana creation, unless it can draw up a strategy to quell the agitation which, in his view, was very serious. There was need for an urgent decision, the report stressed.

Friday's discussions come in the wake of extensive consultations Mr. Mukherjee had on Friday night with Congress representatives from Telangana, who reiterated to him that they cannot return home without a commitment on a new state. Mr. Mukherjee, it may be recalled, had sent a detailed questionnaire to all political parties some months back, seeking their views on the issue.

‘Trying to speed up'

J. Balaji adds: Even as Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad conveyed to the Congress leadership that there was “no unanimity, no consensus” in the consultation process he had with the party leaders of the Telangana and Seemandhra regions on the demand for a separate State, Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday said he was trying his best to speed up the process at the government level.

“I am trying to hasten the process [of consultation] as much as I can, but, as you know, these are matters concerning political parties [they have to fashion their views on the demand for a Telangana State], and only so much one can do from the government,” Mr. Chidambaram told journalists. He said four parties, including the Congress, were yet to give their views on the report of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee, which went into the demands for a separate Telangana and a united Andhra Pradesh. The others that were yet to give their opinion are the TDP, AIMIM and the YSR Congress.

On the agitation, he said: “No government will actually support a general strike. No government will actively support a bandh, a blockade or a rail roko. My appeal is that while the protesters certainly made their point, continuation of any strike or rail roko or rasta roko cripples the economic activity and enormously inconveniences the people.” Meanwhile, the leaders of the Seemandhra region reportedly urged the Congress high command and the government to rein in the pro-Telangana agitators.