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| Singh begins Telangana firefight, meets TRS chief |
| BS Reporter / New Delhi Oct 04, 2011, 00:57 IST |
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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday stepped in to assuage the ongoing crisis over Telangana, and said he “completely understands” the demand for separate statehood.
With the agitation entering the 22nd day, the prime minister met Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao. He also met Congress leaders from the agitation-hit region separately, and assured that a solution to resolve the vexed issue would be found soon.
The Congress is trying to grapple with finding a workable resolution, which insiders maintain is “very tough”.
Singh reportedly told both the delegations that he would brief the party leadership, including president Sonia Gandhi, and the core group on his deliberations with them.
During his meeting with the prime minister, Chandrasekhar Rao was accompanied by Telangana Joint Action Committee chief K Kodhandaram. They briefed the PM about the gravity of the situation in Congress-ruled Andhra Pradesh.
Rao’s son K T Ramarao, who is also an MLA, later told reporters, “We explained to the prime minister the grave situation that exists in Telangana on Monday. We told him that an early decision would do good to defuse the situation. He said he completely understands the Telangana demand and aspirations of the people.”
Senior Congress leaders still maintained they “need time” to hammer out a decision. A senior functionary said, “The problem is that there is no single opinion within any political party except for the TRS. Every party, including the Congress, is split into two — the pro and the anti factions. So, it’s difficult finding a political solution. Except for the TRS, which is Telangana-based and, therefore, a sub-regional party, all others are pan- Andhra parties. So it’s tricky. The BJP which has put its weight behind the agitators in any case has very little stakes there.”
The party is said to be studying the detailed report by Ghulam Nabi Azad, general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh, who had ascertained the views of stakeholders but could not arrive at a conclusion. The report has since been submitted to Sonia Gandhi and was discussed threadbare at the core group meet last week.
Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders from the state, including J Geetha Reddy and K Jana Reddy, met the PM on Monday and briefed him about the current situation in the region.
Reddy said, “We briefed the Prime Minister of what is happening in Andhra Pradesh, in Telangana region. He knows the Telangana issue and the problems. We briefed him in detail about the strike that is being supported by every section of the society.”
Reddy said they had requested the PM to advice Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy not to show "apathy" towards the Telangana region. Geetha Reddy said the delegation members told Singh that there should be some kind of a "time-frame" like six months or so to arrive at a decision.
The prime minister reportedly expressed his understanding and sympathies and said we will try to solve it as soon as possible.
The leaders assured the PM that the safety and security of people of non-Telangana regions in Hyderabad would be protected if a separate Telangana state is formed.
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