New Delhi: Anti Telangana ministers and Member of Parliaments from Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema regions met to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and oppose the division of Andhra Pradesh and formation of Telangana.
A deligation of Union ministers M M Pallam Raju, K S Rao, Chiranjeevi and D Purandeshwari and MPs Bapiraju and Anantarami Reddy met with Singh favored maintaining a united Andhra Pradesh.
Sources said the delegation conveyed to the prime minister that creation of a Telangana would not be in the interest of the state and the country.
Yesterday, there were high-level discussions between the Congress leadership and the state Congress leadership on the demand for creation of Telangana.
AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digivijay Singh and his predecessor Ghulam Nabi Azad held separate discussions with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.
The two leaders are understood to have conveyed to the state leadership that the party has made up its mind on creation of Telangana and it was only a matter of time before it is announced.
The discussions were followed by deliberations held in the core group meeting held at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Congress president Sonia Gandhi chaired the meeting which was also attended by senior Cabinet ministers A K Antony, P Chidambaram and Sushil Kumar Shinde.
Sources said that the party and the UPA government are in favour of a division of the state, which could be decided after the completion of the local bodies elections this month end.
Their is a chance that the decision could be announced in the first week of August and may be formalized at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) after which the issue could go to Parliament for passage of a bill for the purpose.
Bureau Report
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