 "Congress adopting partisan approach on Telangana: Venkaiah Naidu")
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday questioned the Congress Party's hasty decision to create a separate Telangana state, and said its dealing with the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh is casual, immature and irresponsible.
"They have spent more than nine and a half years of time; they have not done enough homework. They have not talked to their own party people, they have not done made efforts to convince their own party people. A party which cannot convince its own people, a party which cannot convince its own chief minister and ministers; how do you expect that party to convince the people of the state?" said Naidu.
"The Congress Party is adopting a partisan approach, the Congress Party is treating the entire issue as if it is an internal matter of the Congress Party," he added.
Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Friday said that the Centre will have to take the Seemandhra Ministers into confidence and 'console' them over the nod for formation of a separate Telangana state.
"They are our colleagues, we will see they remain in the cabinet. They have expressed their concern and we will have to take them into confidence and we will try our level best. After all, when there is bifurcation of state such feelings are there. No one can avoid this, we will have to console them," he said.
Shinde also made it clear that the ruling Congress Party is not looking for any political advantage with the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
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The Home Minister's remark came a day after the Union Cabinet gave its approval for creation of Telangana following which Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi, Textiles Minister K.S. Rao and Union Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister M.M. Pallam Raju resigned from the Council of Ministers.
Meanwhile, the tension continues to prevail in Rayalaseema and Coastal regions in Andhra Pradesh, where people turned out in large numbers on the first day of the 72-hour shutdown yesterday in protest against the Union Cabinet's approval to bifurcate the state.
The Centre has been requested to provide additional forces for deployment in the two regions as public demonstrations turned violent at several places.
The Union Cabinet earlier on Thursday approved the creation of a new state of Telangana by bifurcating the existing state of Andhra Pradesh.
The city of Hyderabad will function as the common capital for both the states for a period of ten years.
The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of a Group of Ministers (GoM) to work out the various legal and administrative measures to ensure the safety and security of the residents of all the regions of the State including the guarantee of the Fundamental Rights.
The Union Cabinet further approved that the GoM will go into the various issues which concern both the States and suggest appropriate measures to address them.
The GoM will also work out the modalities for the provision of special financial disbursements required for the setting up of a new capital for the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh and to meet the special needs of the backward regions and districts of the two States.