UPA coordination panel to meet on July 31 on Telangana

The United Progressive Alliance coordination committee will meet on July 31 to finalise its stand on the vexed Telangana issue amid indications from Congress that carving out a separate state out of Andhra Pradesh is a foregone conclusion and that complexities involved in the process will be adequately addressed.

Depending on the outcome of the UPA coordination committee meet in Delhi, a meeting of the Congress Working Committee may be convened.

Senior Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh said that creation of a separate state appears to be a fait accompli but the party will have to address complications attached with it

In Hyderabad, Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader Jagadish Reddy said his party was opposed to proposals like Rayala Telangana under which two of the four districts of the Rayalaseema region will be part of Telangana. The TRS wants Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asasuddin Owaisi asserted that his party was opposed to bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and he would meet Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to convey their strong concerns over the proposed split.

Asked about the division of the Rayalaseema region, he told PTI, "Where is the question of this when we are totally opposing any division".

Protests continued in the Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra districts in support of a united state.

With the top Congress leadership appearing to have veered towards creation of Telangana, Congress MPs from rest of Andhra Pradesh have opposed any division of the state while a party MP from Telangana region had said that the government should go ahead with the decision.

The six anti-Telangana MPs, including Union Ministers M M Pallam Raju, K S Rao, Chiranjeevi and D Purandeshwari (all hailing from coastal Andhra) and K Bapiraju and Anantarami Reddy had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a delegation to push for keeping Andhra Pradesh united

The MPs told the prime minister that there would be repercussions not only for the state but also for the entire country if the state is divided.

Rao said after the meeting that any decision to split the state would create problems. It was not in the interest of the people nor the various regions of Andhra Pradesh, he said

Bapiraju had said the delegation told the Prime Minister that formation of Telangana will create problems in many states including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh where there are demands for separate statehood.

The BJP asked the Centre to immediately announce creation of a separate Telangana state.

"We support Telangana cause. The BJP is committed to form the state. Government should grant it immediately," party chief Rajnath Singh told reporters after attending the BJP's SC Morcha National Executive meeting in New Delhi.

He said Telangana statehood will become a reality if BJP comes to power at the Centre after the general elections.

The BJP has accused the ruling party of dilly-dallying on the matter.

AICC General Secretary incharge of Andhra Pradesh Digivijaya Singh and his predecessor Ghulam Nabi Azad have held separate discussions with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha.

The two leaders were understood to have conveyed to the state leadership that the party has made up its mind on the creation of Telangana and it was only a matter of time before it is announced.