With the top Congress leadership appearing to have veered towards creation of Telangana, Congress MPs from rest of Andhra Pradesh opposed any division of the state while a party MP from Telangana region said 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 met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a delegation to push for keeping Andhra Pradesh united.
The MPs told Prime Minister that there would be repercussions not only for the state but also for the entire country if Andhra Pradesh 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.
Talking to reporters, Bapiraju 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.
He said the PM gave a patient hearing to the leaders.
