After T-party, it's a committee

The Centre appears to be moving forward on constituting a committee to find ways for the peaceful resolution of the Telangana issue, highly placed sources indicated after a meeting of leaders of eight political parties of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday evening.

The meeting, called by the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, at his North Block office, lasted over four hours. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is said to have no objection to the setting up of such a committee, but is insisting that it should be headed by a political leader, not a bureaucrat.


The TRS chief, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, did not talk to reporters after the meeting but he will meet Mr Chidambaram on Wednesday and will comment only after a structured statement by the government. Mr Chidambaram’s brief interaction with the media after the meeting was not a statement, but he made certain comments, viewed the TRS.

Later, Mr Chandrasekhar’s Rao’s son and MLA, Mr K.T. Rama Rao, said, “We are satisfied with the meeting, it was conducted in an orderly fashion. Everyone was given an opportunity to convey his views.”

The ball now lies in the Centre’s court after the meeting failed to achieve a breakthrough. Mr Chidambaram will now brief the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and top leaders of the Congress and the government on the deliberations in the light of Tuesday’s meeting.

Meet Beat

* When KCR repeatedly insisted that the Centre should carve out T-state immediately, MIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi referred to his statement that he (KCR) could wait for Telangana till 2014. When KCR denied making that statement, Mr Owaisi asked, "Did somebody mimic your voice?"

* TD representative Yanamala Ramakrishnudu tried to irk P. Chidamba-ram by referring to separatist demands in Tamil Nadu. He wanted Mr Chidambaram to clarify on other demands for statehood like Gorkhaland. "The meeting is only to discuss about Telangana," said Mr Chidambaram.

* Praja Rajyam blamed Chidambaram’s statement for unrest and lack of governance in the state. Chiranjeevi warned of water wars between two states if Centre went ahead with division.

* There was complete silence for about 10 minutes after the opening remarks of the Union Home Minister with each of the participants waiting for others to talk first. It was BJP state president Bandaru Dattatreya who broke the silence by stating that there was no need for consultation and a Bill should be tabled in Parliament.

* Pro and anti-Telengana activists sneaked up to North Block by pretending to be tourists. Once there, they waved placards with slogans and a rather cheeky one by pro-Telengana supporters which read: `3 Idiots' and had the names of N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chiranjeevi and L. Rajagopal.

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