Union Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo has said trifurcation and not bifurcation, as decided by UPA government, of Andhra Pradesh is the best solution and accused the state's Congress chief and Chief Minister of "pursuing selfish motives and encouraging violent agitations".
Deo, Tribal Affairs Minister and MP from the state, has written to senior Congress leader A K Antony, who heads the four-member panel looking into concerns of state Congress leaders, that all three regions in the state have distinctive social and cultural features and should be made separate states.
"I am of the considered view that the only solution in the present situation is to trifurcate the state and grant a separate statehood for Rayalseema. This will assuage the feelings of all three regions and is the only permanent solution," he wrote.
Deo said he is aware that Congress Working Committee's decision to create a separate state of Telangana is irreversible but "it is necessary to take stock of the situation in its proper perspective in order to find a final and acceptable solution".
He accused party general secretary, Ghulam Nabi Azad, former in charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs, of having a "predetermined" mind and he consulted only a few Telangana leaders and PCC president Botsa Satayanarayana.
"The people of Andhra Pradesh are, however, of the impression that a hasty decision was taken keeping in view only the results of ensuing elections which is also based on purely speculative and theoretical assessments," he wrote.
He also lashed out at Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Satayanarayana, saying people felt one of them was keen that the state be divided as it would "enable him to achieve his life's ambition of becoming CM".
The other, he said of Reddy, believed his position would be secured till 2014 only by prolonging the Telengana impasse.
