Reddy says Telangana step suicidal, won’t be part of it

With the Congress Working Committee and the UPA coordination committee likely to take a view on Telangana next week, AP chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and other Seemandhra ministers have issued veiled threats to step down from their posts if the state is bifurcated.

With the Congress Working Committee and the UPA coordination committee likely to take a view on Telangana next week, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and other Seemandhra ministers have issued veiled threats to step down from their posts if the state is bifurcated.

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During his meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other leaders on Friday, Reddy is learnt to have told them that “creating Telangana is a suicidal step and that it would be difficult for me to preside over any move to bifurcate the state. I will not be a party to any destructive decision”.

The resignation threat by Reddy and ministers from coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema is to safeguard their own political interests.

Union ministers MM Pallam Raju, KS Rao, Chiranjeevi and D Purandeshwari and MPs Kanimuru Bapi Raju and Anantarami Reddy met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in a delegation to express their opposition to the move.

The meeting came a day after the Congress core group put Telangana on the fast track and the top leadership gave its nod for Telangana.

Andhra ministers from Seemandhra, who have been camping in Delhi for the past few days, wrote to Sonia Gandhi, urging her not to split the state.

The lobbying prompted pro-Telangana Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar to issue an appeal to Seemandhra leaders to allow the process to begin.