New Delhi:
Congress leaders from Telangana met with the Prime Minister this afternoon.
They want the Central government to commit to bifurcating Andhra Pradesh to create a new state of Telangana. "Dusshera is one of the biggest festivals in Telangana," said V Hanumantha Rao, a Congress MP. "We will not celebrate due to the stalemate."
After the 30-minute meeting with Dr Manmohan Singh at his residence, senior minister Geetha Reddy said, "He expressed his understanding and sympathies to us. He said we need to solve the problem. ...he did not give us any assurance but he did tell us that he would talk to Congress president Sonia Gandhi."
The issue has confounded the government because while leaders from Telangana are vehement about statehood with Hyderabad as their capital, the two other regions of Andhra Pradesh are opposed to any division. Andhra Pradesh has three regions - coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana.
The campaign by pro-Telangana activists has been reinvigorated with a 22-day strike in the region which has affected business, trains and colleges. The face of the Telangana movement - K Chandrasekhara Rao or KCR - who arrived in Delhi last week to push his agenda led a sit-in at Rajghat yesterday on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. KCR met Dr Manmohan Singh this evening.
For the Congress, which is in power in Andhra Pradesh, the situation offers an exception challenge. KCR and others have been encouraging their supporters to protest at the homes and offices of Congress leaders, taunting them to get their government at the centre to agree to a new state. Congressmen from Telangana say they have to resign if they are unable to deliver their voters' demands.
Last week, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee held extensive consultations with partymen from Telangana. Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also in charge of his party's affairs in Andhra Pradesh, presented an extensive report on his assessment of the situation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Mr Azad's report was debated at a meeting of the Congress core committee on Friday at the PM's house.