K Chiranjeevi meets Digvijaya Singh, seeks Union territory status for Hyderabad

NEW DELHI: K Chiranjeevi, the only Union minister to pitch for Union Territory status for Hyderbad, called on AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh late on Saturday night to reiterate the demand. The meeting took place hours after Singh's reiteration that Telangana formation would take place according to the fixed timeframe. Chiranjeevi had advocated that Hyderabad be given Union territory status in the event of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and demanded that the city be made the common capital for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The minister said he had met the AICC general secretary to brief him on the situation in the Rayalaseema and Andhra region.

Asked if he would resign over the division of the state, the founder president of the erstwhile Prajarajyam Party said he was continuing in the council of ministers only to fight for the rights of the Seemandhra people from within.

Chiranjeevi also said that the process of the formation of Telangana state would begin "only after the submission of the report by the high level committee to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi".

Meanwhile, Singh assured the Seemandhra Congress leaders and the people agitating against the bifurcation that all their concerns would be addressed. "Before drafting the T-bill , the proposed high-level committee , of which I am also a member, will seek suggestions from all sections of people so that the interests of farmers and other people are protected ," he said. Endowments minister C Ramachandraiah also accompanied Chiranjeevi.