Telangana Congress leaders to chalk out roadmap Tuesday

HYDERABAD - Congress leaders from Telangana will hold a crucial meeting here Tuesday to chalk out their course of action for a separate Telangana state.

State ministers, members of parliament and the state legislature, and others from Telangana will be meeting amid mounting public pressure on them to resign if the demand for a bill on formation a separate state is not tabled during the budget session of parliament.

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member K. Keshava Rao told reporters Monday that state Congress chief D. Srinivas, members of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), office bearers of the state unit of the party and presidents of the district units will also attend the meeting.

Claiming that all parties’ leaders from the region want a separate state, Keshava Rao denied differences on the issue. “We want Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital. There is going to be no compromise on this issue.”

At the last meeting of Congress leaders held here Friday, it was decided that ministers, MPs and state legislators would resign if the bill was not tabled during parliament’s budget session.

With pressure from people and pro-Telangana groups mounting on party leaders to resign without any delay, it was decided to hold another meeting.

Keshava Rao said only the fifth suggestion of the Srikrishna Committee for formation of a Telangana state with Hyderabad as it capital was acceptable. “We are ready to allay the apprehensions about the security of life and property of those who come from other regions,” he said.

In a related development, some ministers from Telangana met union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy here Monday to discuss the situation following the Srikrishna Committee report.

The ministers, including D. Sridhar Babu, Komatreddy Venkat Reddy and Basvaraj Saraiah, told the minister about the strong sentiments in the region and stressed the need for the central leadership to respect the sentiments of Telangana people by taking necessary steps.

Jaipal Reddy assured the ministers that he would convey their feelings to the leadership but advised them not to take any hasty step.

According to party sources, the ministers will visit New Delhi after ‘Makar sankranti’ Jan 14 to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to demand a Telangana bill in parliament.