"Support United AP, Attend Our Meetings"

Primary Education Minister S Sailajanath on Saturday condemned the criticism by pro-Telangana leaders over the meeting held by Seemandhra leaders on January 17.

Talking to reporters in the Assembly premises, Sailajanath said that the meeting was not a "secret" session. Referring to criticism by Congress MLCs K R Amos and Yadav Reddy on why Telangana leaders had not been invited for the meeting, he said that the meeting had been open for everyone who was in favour of keeping Andhra Pradesh united. He said that if Amos and Yadav Reddy had been against bifurcation, they too could have attended the meeting.

Sailajanath said that even the MPs from the Seemandhra region had not been invited for the meeting, and had participated on their own. He said that the Seemandhra leaders had every right to hold the meeting at any place across the state.

The minister also informed that a delegation of Seemandhra leaders would meet the Congress High Command on 21 January to submit a resolution demanding that the state be kept united. He said that some leaders would also be meeting senior leaders including Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Vyalar Ravi at Jaipur and Delhi. (INN)