The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : UPA sets up three-man panel on Telangana

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 06, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

UPA sets up three-man panel on Telangana

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 5. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) today announced the formation of a three-member group under the Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, to suggest suitable follow-up action on the demand for creation of separate Telangana State, being insisted by its ally, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti.

Besides Mr. Mukherjee, the group would comprise the Rural Development Minister, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, and the Communication and Information Technology Minister, Dayanidhi Maran of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK).

The group has been asked to submit its report in eight weeks to Ms. Gandhi, who is also Chairperson of the UPA.

The terms of reference indicates that the group will suggest steps to address the promise made in the National Common Minimum Programme that the demand would be considered at an appropriate time after due consultations and consensus, Congress leaders said.

CPI(M) sounded

Earlier, the UPA had sounded the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to nominate a member to the group but it was turned down on the ground that the party's opposition to the creation of smaller States was known.

There is considerable pull and counter-pull over the creation of Telangana between the Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders and their TRS counterparts.

The TRS chief and Union Labour Minister, K. Chandrasekhara Rao, had during November last year threatened to stay out of the UPA Coordination Committee meeting unless a categorical view was taken on it.

The UPA then announced that a small group would be set up to go into the issue of separate Telangana.

TRS welcomes move

Our Hyderabad Staff Reporter writes: The Telangana Rashtra Samiti, meanwhile, said that the constitution of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) sub-committee to look into the demand for Statehood to Telangana was a `milestone' in achieving its goal.

The TRS chief coordinator, K. Yadagiri Reddy, reacting to the decision of the UPA chairperson, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, to constitute the three-member panel, told The Hindu that the party welcomed the development which it described as a result of relentless efforts of its leader, K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

The party thanked Ms. Gandhi and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, for taking steps to implement the national Common Minimum Programme in the context of formation of Telangana State.

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