Government's latest move on Telangana leaves parties confused

Hyderabad, Dec 30 : The decision of the central government to call a meeting Jan 5 of leaders of eight recognised political parties of Andhra Pradesh to discuss bifurcation of the state to carve out a Telangana state evoked contradictory reactions within the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

With the two major parties vertically divided on regional lines, the leadership is now in a dilemma on the stand to be taken at the meeting.

While leaders of the Congress in Telangana hoped that the party would take a clear stand in support of a separate statehood, their counterparts in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema were equally confident that the party would go by their views for a unified Andhra Pradesh.

The central government's move also added to the confusion in the TDP as to what stand it should take at the meeting.

TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu went into a huddle with senior party leaders to chalk out a strategy.

The parties, by and large, welcomed the decision but said they would wait for the agenda before making any comments.

All-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) convenor Kodandaram said it was a welcome step but added that JAC would take a united stand after discussions with all the parties.

Both Congress and TDP are included in the JAC.

It was also not yet clear as to how many leaders from each party would attend the meeting.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao also began consultations with his party colleagues to take a stand.

TRS leader Vidyasagar Rao said the process for formation of Telangana state had already started and the meeting was called to discuss the modalities.

Congress MP from Telangana Sarve Satyanarayana hailed the central government's move and said this would expose the parties which took a u-turn on the issue after the government made a statement on Dec 9 to initiate the process for formation of Telangana state.

"No matter what one says at the meeting, the party president Sonia Gandhi has already decided to carve out Telangana state and nobody can now stop it," he said.

Congress MPs from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions were hopeful that their views against statehood to Telangana would be heard at the meeting.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) support the demand for Telangana state, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) may oppose it.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) has still not taken a clear stand on the issue.

Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee of Osmania University students said the agitation for Telangana would continue.

The committee felt that the meeting would serve no purpose and that the central government should immediately start the process with a time-frame.