As the Telangana Congress leaders rejected Congress general secretary and Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's invitation for talks on the Telangana issue, the latter told a delegation of Seemandhra Congress leaders on Monday that he would shortly convene a meeting of party leaders of Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana regions on the issue.
The Seemandhra leaders made it clear that the Centre should not take any step that would harm the unity of Andhra Pradesh.
While the Seemandhara delegation led by Eluru MP K.S. Rao and Primary Education Minister S. Sailajanath opposed the division of Andhra Pradesh bowing to pressure from the Telanagana leaders, Mr. Azad reportedly asked them to select 10 representatives from the coastal region and five from Rayalaseema on their own and send them for the consultation process. He did not say when he would convene the meeting.
Sixth option
The Seemandhra leaders also insisted that the Centre should immediately implement the sixth option of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee to keep the State united.
They also highlighted the problems Seemandhra would face in irrigation if Telangana was carved out.
The Seemandhra leaders, who have plans to camp in Delhi till Wednesday, will meet Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Home Minister P.Chidambaram and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday to press their demand.
They are also trying to seek an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
The huge delegation of over 50 leaders consisted of 17 Ministers, 12 MPs, 24 MLAs, 12 MLCs and five ex-MLAs from the Seemandhra region.
Earlier in Hyderabad, the Telangana leaders refused to meet Mr. Azad as they were hurt by his comments in Beijing that consensus and Assembly resolution were needed for the formation of Telangana.
They said that they would not interact with Mr. Azad unless he withdrew his controversial statement.
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