Centre Nixes Telangana Issue

The Telangana ministers on Sunday failed to get any assurance from the Congress High Command over the Telangana issue.

A day after meeting Union Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Vayalar Ravi, the Ministers' delegation led by K Jana Reddy met Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde here on Sunday. However, sources say that instead of any assurance, the ministers were pulled up by their party seniors for visiting the national capital. They were reportedly told that a decision on the statehood issue might be delayed for some more time.

However, Jana Reddy tried to put on a brave face while interacting with the media after meeting Sushil Kumar Shinde. Stating that the Centre was aware of the sentiments and aspirations of Telangana people, he blamed the lack of coordination between leaders of the two regions for the delay in taking a decision on the issue. "The High Command has taken note of the sentiments of the people of Telangana. But the time has now come to take a final decision on the issue,” he said.

During interactions with the Central leadership, the ministers told them that the party would lose the next elections if a decision on the statehood issue was delayed further. Briefing them about the padayatras being taken up by the TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu and the YSRCP leader Sharmila, they said that while other parties were gearing up for the next polls, the Congress leaders were facing the people's wrath over the Telangana issue.

Jana Reddy also dismissed the demand for the resignation of Telangana ministers stating that it would not help achieve statehood for the region. However, he said that all Congress leaders from the region were ready to sacrifice their posts for Telangana. He claimed that 30 MLAs and 13 ministers have sent letters to the High Command demanding a separate Telangana.

The Panchayat Raj Minister also announced that he would not participate in the Andhra Pradesh Formation Day celebrations on November 1. “I did not participate in celebrations last year and this year too I am boycotting the function,”

Sources say that the ministers' delegation was unable to impress the High Command primarily due to a lack of integration among them. While the Information and Public Relations Minister DK Aruna along with leaders from Mahabubnagar district visited New Delhi last week, only four ministers - Sridhar Babu, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Baswaraj Saraiah and Sudarshan Reddy, joined the Jana-led delegation. The other ministers from the region decided to keep away from the national capital. (INN)