New Delhi, December 30: As undivided Andhra Pradesh waits for the Srikrishna Committee report on Telangana with bated breath, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday held a high-level meeting to review the political and security situation in the State.
The meeting was called to discuss measures taken by the Central and state governments to avert any political flare-up in Andhra Pradesh after the Srikrishna Committee submits its report. The Centre is understandably worried about the fallout of the report in the State as the Srikrishna panel has indicated that the report will be giving “pros and cons’’ of dividing Andra Pradesh.
Set up by the government to primarily look into the demand for creating a separate State of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh, the committee is likely to submit its report on Thursday — a day before its term expires.
Sources said in the hour-long strategy meeting, the Prime Minister discussed the whole issue with his senior Cabinet colleagues from the Congress “to put in place a contingency plan’’.
The Prime Minister, the sources said, was keen on avoiding “a repeat of last December’’ when agitations for and against a separate State of Telangana rocked the State.
The Prime Minister’s meeting, attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony and Law Minister Veerappa Moily, looked at the issue in this prespective. Meanwhile, the Congress, which has been keeping its options open, indicated that “no immediate decision should be expected’’ on the contentious issue which has split the State’s political leaders into pro-Telangana and anti-Telangana groups. “It is expected to be a voluminous report. Our Home Minister (P Chidambaram) will need time to study it thoroughly. The government and the party will take a call only after going through the report,’’ Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said, adding that the party was not against the creation of smaller states.
–Agencies