YSR’s Telangana twist: 4 regions in AP demand states

HYDERABAD: Two months ahead of the assembly and parliamentary elections, Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on Thursday said he would appoint a panel to look at demand of a separate state for Telangana. He said there is similar demand from the Hyderabad, Rayalaseema and northern Andhra regions for separate statehood and those needed to be looked into as well.

His statement implies that the Congress is still dilly-dallying on the Telangana issue as opposed to rivals Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS). TDP has promised statehood for Telangana if voted back to power.

The demand for Telangana, which covers the Telugu-speaking areas of the erstwhile Nizam���s dominion, started almost four decades ago and is gathering steam now. The Congress-led UPA government has, however, been dithering on the issue despite making a commitment in the common minimum programme in 2004 when the TRS was its ally.

���The question now is two, three or four states. We need to appoint a committee and negotiate with the other stakeholders entangled in the issue. The government of Andhra Pradesh has no objection for the creation of Telangana,��� Mr Reddy said.

The demand for the formation of a separate Telangana state is a highly emotive issue and is one which is close to my heart and Congress party, said Mr Reddy. The government has decided to constitute a committee of members of both the houses to deliberate the issues and concerns on the formation of Telangana and further steps could be taken after the report from the joint committee is submitted according to him.

���We never ditched the people and we will never ditch them,��� Mr Reddy asserted, leaving positive indications. He said the Congress could not deliver on its promise as there was no consensus on the issue when the Pranab Mukherjee committee collected opinions from all parties.

This statement came at a time when all parties including the TRS came to a conclusion that the chief minister was opposed to Telangana and the Congress had failed on its 2004 poll promise.

However, Opposition leader and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu said his party will not join the joint committee. ���The committee is the joke of the year. It makes no sense as we are going for polls in about two months. We will pass a resolution in favour of Telangana and Telangana will be a reality when we are voted to power,��� Mr Naidu said.