New Delhi, January 05: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday appealed to political parties in Andhra Pradesh to help the central government find a solution to the Telangana issue and made a subtle hints that Maoists would be happy if they fail to find a solution.
In his opening statement at a meeting of eight recognised political parties from Andhra Pradesh, he said the agenda is to “deliberate on the mechanism and lay down a road map for the consultations”.
“I urge each of the political parties represented here to show accommodation and goodwill. Ultimately you must find the answers and you must help the central government find a solution.”
He said though the agenda for the meeting may appear limited he was confident that “if we take one step at a time we will, eventually, find a solution”.
The minister asked the parties to give their views on the mechanism and the road map for consultation among parties and groups.
Apparently hinting at Maoists, he said: “I wish to caution all political parties that there are forces waiting on the wings, who ridicule parliamentary form of democracy and who would be happy if we collectively fail to find answers to the issues that concern us and we should not give any room for these forces to gain strength or credence.”
The meeting was held at the Home Ministry was attended by eight registered political parties in Andhra Pradesh — Congress, Telugu Desam Party, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Praja Rajyam Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin.
Earlier, as the representatives of the parties arrived to attend the conference, pro and anti-Telangana activists shouted slogans in support of their demands.
Besides, the TRS leader and the Chief Minister, others who attended the meeting include actor-turned-politician and PRP leader Chiranjeevi and his associate C Ramachandraiah, K S Rao and Uttamkumar Reddy (both Cong) and Y Ramakrishna Du and R Prakash (both TDP).
Andhra Pradesh BJP unit chief Bandaru Dattareya and his colleague Hari Babu, B V Raghavallu and J Rangareddy (CPI-M), K Narayanan and Malesh (CPI) and Asaduddin Owaisi and Akbaruddin Owaisi of MIM also attended the deliberations.
The meeting came a day after hectic consultations involving Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his cabinet colleagues on the Telangana issue even as the TRS chief demanded an immediate Parliament law to facilitate formation of a separate state.
The Congress and TDP, which are in a Catch-22 situation with deep divisions between their partymen from the three regions of the state, did a delicate balancing act by nominating one person each from Telangana and coastal Andhra regions for the meet.
Huzurnagar MLA N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who hails from Telangana, and senior party MP from Eluru, Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, representing coastal Andhra, were part of the Congress team at the meeting.
Former minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu (coastal Andhra region) and senior MLA Revuri Prakash Reddy (Telangana) represented the TDP.
–Agenceis