Five Union ministers from Andhra Pradesh's Seemandhra today met BJP leader L K Advani to seek his party's support for a package for the region following the decision to create a separate Telangana state, and were asked by the latter not to protest over the issue in Parliament.
The Congress ministers were accompanied by BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu during the meeting at Advani's residence this morning.
During the 25-minute meeting, the Union ministers urged Advani to support a handsome package for Seemandhra to ensure its all-round development in the coming years.
During the meeting, Advani told the ministers not to defy parliamentary traditions by protesting in the Well of the House and to maintain decorum.
Union ministers K S Rao (Textiles), M M Pallam Raju (Human Resource Development), Purandeshwari (Minister of State for Commerce and Industry), Chiranjeevi (Tourism) and Kruparani Killi (Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology) were present in the meeting, but Union Minister of State for Finance J D Seelam could not attend it as he was busy with interim budget, sources said.
The ministers also raised objections to the manner in which the Telangana bill was brought up in the Lok Sabha, and complained about "selective" suspension of MPs from the state for protesting against the legislation.
After the meeting, Advani is learnt to have briefed his party colleagues -- Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley -- on the demands raised by the Congress ministers.
Speaking on the development, Naidu later said the fact that Congress ministers meeting opposition leaders and seeking their support to their demands "speaks volumes of the current situation and the confusion created by the ruling party".
While BJP supports creation of a separate state of Telangana, it is opposed to the passage of the bill amid din in the Lok Sabha.
