Unlike his predecessor Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who took a tough line against separate Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah has no personal view on the bifurcation of his state and would like the Centre to find a lasting solution not a "temporary truce".
He says he will accept whatever the Central government decides and that it is the responsibility of the Central government to find a lasting solution to the current political turmoil in the state.
77-year-old Konijeti Rosaiah has been moving from crisis to crisis ever since he assumed chief ministership of Andhra Pradesh after Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash on September two last year.
First it was the campaign launched by the late chief minister's son Jagan Mohan Reddy for becoming chief minister, then the handling of one of the worst floods and now the Telangana crisis.
"I have no personal view on the bifurcation issue. I have no personal opinion. As long as I am holding the post of chief minister in the state, I do not have any personal views. My personal view is not at all an issue in this matter," the low-profile veteran Congress told PTI in an interview.
Rosaiah, who was finance minister in Reddy's cabinet, incidentally headed a committee to seek views on separate Telangana and the late Reddy was dead set against splitting the state.
Reddy, who had emerged as a powerful regional chieftain in the Congress party, had seen to it that virtually there was no no forward movement on the campaign by TRS for separate Telangana that its chief K Chandrasekhara Rao quit the UPA in 2006 and intensified his campaign.
Rosaiah said, "It is not in our hands. This is an issue which has to be examined from different angles by the Centre."
"Sitting here, there is no occasion for us to say yes or no. If it is an issue that could be decided by me or someone else here, we can do it according to our thoughts. But this is an issue that is to be looked into by the Centre and they will have to give us an ever-lasting solution. The chief minister appealed to all political parties, including Congress, to leave the issue to the Centre. Not just as the chief minister but more particularly as a citizen of Andhra Pradesh, my earnest appeal to all political parties is to please leave the issue to be sorted out at Delhi. Willingly or unwillingly, let us not become tools for hampering the development of the state, he said.
Asked how was he reading the signals emanating from New Delhi that Telangana state could be a reality in the next 12 to 18 months, Rosaiah remarked, "One, I have not understood any signals. Two, I am not opposed to anything that the Government of India finally does. I will abide faithfully and try to co-operate with the Centre."
