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Wednesday, Dec 16, 2009
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Telangana: UPA allies voice apprehension

Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI: The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) on Tuesday urged the people and political parties of Andhra Pradesh to maintain peace and harmony.

The appeal came after the CCPA met in the evening to take stock of the situation in the State, which has been on the boil for over a fortnight now over the creation of a Telangana State.

At the meeting, Congress Ministers briefed the key allies on the developments and the factors that dictated the Union government’s announcement last Wednesday on Telangana formation.

The Trinamool Congress is understood to have opposed the bifurcation even as questions were raised about the manner in which the government handled the situation following the 11-day fast by Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao.

Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar (NCP), Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress) and Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran (DMK) attended the meeting.

There has been apprehension among the allies and within the Congress too that the government’s bid to contain the TRS protest aggravated the situation, as now the entire State is agitated and the divide between Telangana and Andhra-Rayalaseema has widened.

Though the Andhra-Rayalaseema MPs hoped for a formulation from the CCPA that would calm the frayed tempers in their region — particularly since Congress president Sonia Gandhi had informed them of the meeting and raised their expectations — nothing to this effect was forthcoming.

For now, some of them are pinning their hopes on a possible statement in Parliament, but there was no official word.

Having taken the view that any forward movement on Telangana will be made only after the Assembly passes a resolution, the Centre is reluctant to come out with any fresh formulation stating that bifurcation has been put on hold as demanded by MPs from Andhra-Rayalaseema.

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