No Telangana yet, Congress buys more time for working committee.......Shutdown in Andhra to oppose statehood to Telangana

Agencies, indiatoday,  Hyderabad, July 12, 2013: The Congress core group, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi, has once again postponed the decision on demands for a separate Telangana state.

Congress general secretary and party-in-charge for Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh has now said that the Congress Working Committee will take a decision on Telangana, saying more time was needed to arrive at a consensus. He, however, refused to give a timeframe for these discussions.

Earlier in the day Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy met Sonia Gandhi.

Meanwhile, the opposition BJP was going all out to woo pro-statehood supporters. BJP spokesperson Abhimanyu Sindhu said his party would surely fulfill the long pending demand of carving a separate state of Telangana as soon as it comes to power.

The Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) has assured pro-Telangana supporters that their long pending demand for carving a separate state will be met soon.

BJP spokesperson Abhimanyu Sindhu said his party would surely fulfill the long pending demand of carving a separate state of Telangana as soon as it comes to power.

"We have carved out in the past the state of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand and it is proved that the smaller states have grown well because of the size of the state. The Bharatiya Janata Party believes that soon the NDA Government will be there at the Centre and the dream of Telangana state of the people of Telangana will be achieved very soon," he said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader S Rajaiah has come to the defence of his party, saying the discussions are on and a final decision would be taken soon.

"Today's meeting is going to be the final meeting and most important leaders from AP (Andhra Pradesh) like CM, deputy CM, party president, they are submitting their roadmaps how to carve the Telangana, how to form the Telangana and we are confident that today a final call will be taken," he said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy met Congress President Sonia Gandhi here on Friday ahead of a crucial meeting of the Congress Core Group this evening to decide on the demands for a separate Telangana state.

He termed as "baseless", the reports which claimed that he had threatened to quit if the Congress high command took a decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to create a separate Telangana state.

"It is absolutely false and baseless. It is malicious in nature. Soniaji is our leader and I have high respect for her. Personally, I have greatest regard for her as a true Congress leader," a statement issued by the state Information and Public Relations Department here quoted Reddy as saying.

Following his brief meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi this morning, there were reports that he has threatened to resign from his post if Congress decides to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh to form a separate Telangana state.

Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who is in-charge for Andhra Pradesh, yesterday said that the Centre has to consult UPA partners and opposition parties, as the decision could require amendments to the Constitution.

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde earlier on Wednesday said the consultations on the demand for a separate Telangana were still on and it would take time for arriving at a decision.

"How can I make a comment on the core group's plan? There is a high command which will take a decision," he said, when asked whether a decision was expected from the Congress Core Group.

Congress MPs from Telangana have so far accused the Centre of following what they call a 'one-step-forward-two-backward' approach when it comes to addressing their demand for a separate state.

The Centre's flip-flop over the issue began in December 2009 when the then Home Minister P. Chidambaram promised the formation of a new state only to go back on it after a few days.

The issue was later pushed before a committee headed by Justice B.N. Srikrishna. This panel did not come up with a tangible solution, but instead presented six options.

These included the creation of a Telangana Regional Council within Andhra, bifurcation of the state into Telangana with Hyderabad as the capital and Seemandhra with a new capital; bifurcation of the state into Seemandhra and Telangana after making Hyderabad a Union Territory; bifurcation of the state into Seemandhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad metropolis as a Union Territory; bifurcation of the state into Rayala Telangana and Coastal Andhra; and maintenance of status quo.

Shutdown in Andhra to oppose statehood to Telangana

Amarnath K. Menon  Hyderabad, July 12, 2013: Schools and colleges are closed while shops and businesses, across the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, are shut voluntarily on Friday in protest against the possible division of the state.

This follows the call of the Samaikya Andhra or United Andhra Students Joint Action Committee opposed to carving out of Telangana to observe the protest shutdown ahead of the crucial meeting of the Congress party core committee at the Prime Minister's residence in Delhi to discuss the roadmaps on the vexatious issue later on Friday afternoon.

All colleges, affiliated to the 13 universities, in the two regions are shut. The universities have also put off their post graduation counseling and examinations scheduled for Friday. In Anantapur district, the bus transport services are also affected by the shutdown as protestors staged sit - in at the depots of the state owned Andhra Pradesh State Transport Corporation.

Students took out rallies and staged road blockades in Tirupati and other places in Rayalaseema.

While leaders from the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions are anxious about the nature and outcome of the discussions of the crucial core committee meeting, there is an air of expectancy among leaders from Telangana following indications that it will take a decision on the demand for a separate state.

Chief Minister K. Kiran Reddy who is from the Rayalaseema, APCC president Botsa Satyanaryana who hails from the coastal Andhra region and the deputy chief minister C. Damodar Rajanarasimha from Telangana are to present distinct roadmaps at the meeting. Congress sources told India Today that the three leaders have presented the advantages and disadvantages on the separate statehood issue.

Predictably, Kiran Reddy and Botsa Satyanarayana are opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh. In fact, Kiran Reddy is toying with the idea of stepping down if Telangana is to become a reality.

Among those attending the core committee meeting are party chief Sonia Gadhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi,  the party's political adviser Ahmed Patel, Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde,  Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad  who was earlier the AICC general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh and his successor in that job Digvijaya Singh.

Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh Non - Gazetted Officers Association has declared that it will resort to agitations and if needed go on a flash strike in case the ruling party's decision goes in favour of bifurcation. "The first to be affected by state bifurcation will be employees and their families," says the association president P. Ashok Babu. The Telangana Non - Gazetted Officers Association, which is supporting the demand for statehood, has asked their counterparts from the other regions not to provoke the people of Telangana.

The Congress has veered to the view that a decision on the Telangana tangle cannot be delayed any longer after it gave the nod to leaders from Telangana to hold a massive rally at Hyderabad's Nizam College grounds on June 30.

Party sources averred that the announcement is unlikely at the end of today's core committee meeting and the AICC may delay it until the month end by when elections to the gram panchayats in the state will be over.