Hope government will take all parties on board on Telangana: Congress

NEW DELHI - The Congress Thursday stated that it is not against creation of Telangana, and hoped the government would take political parties on board while deciding on the issue in the wake of the Srikrishna panel submitting its report.

“Congress is not against smaller states including Telangana. The Srikrishna committee has submitted its report. We hope government will take political parties into confidence and take an appropriate action,” party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said here.

Following submission of the Srikrishna report, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said he had convened a meeting of eight recognised political parties from Andhra Pradesh to discuss the contents of the report Jan 6.

Ahmed also made light of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Murli Manohar Joshi’s statement that “as a member of BJP” he was in favour of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

He said that Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which Joshi heads, has “vast powers” in bringing greater accountability in public spending.

“Joshi has said nothing new. As a member of the BJP, he has on earlier occasions asked for the formation of a JPC. He is examining the CAG report as head of a parliamentary committee,” Ahmed said.