Party leaders meet President Pranab Mukherjee over Andhra Pradesh bifurcation issue

HYDERABAD: Leaders of various parties from either side of the political divide met President Pranab Mukherjee at the Raj Bhavan and put forth their arguments for and against the proposed bifurcation of the state.

The Seemandhra leaders reportedly complained to the President how the Centre was seeking to divide the state by subverting the Constitution and also the democratic norms.

Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had a separate meeting with the President at the Raj Bhavan where he made a strong pitch against the bifurcation of the state, sources said.

He recalled his recent letter to the President in which he accused the Centre of "trivialising" the state bifurcation process by taking "shortcut" routes, without any "homework".

The Seemandhra leaders of Telugu Desam Party appealed to the President to keep the state united if the Centre could not render equal justice to all regions in the bifurcation process.

The YSR Congress wanted withdrawal of the Union Cabinet's decision to "divide the first linguistic state without any basis."

Congress leaders from Telangana, too, called on the President and presented their version on the bifurcation.

"We have requested the President to let the state be united if the Centre could not do equal justice to all regions in the bifurcation process. We also complained to him about the unilateral manner in which the Centre was going ahead with the division process," TDP senior MLA Payyavula Keshav told reporters after the meeting.