Allies, YSR son slam Congress over Telangana

Representatives of the UPA’s allies protested strongly against the Congress’s announcement of a separate state of Telangana without consulting them, at the meeting of the cabinet committee on political affairs on Tuesday evening. Aurangzeb Naqshbandi report.

Representatives of the UPA’s allies protested strongly against the Congress’s announcement of a separate state of Telangana without consulting them, at the meeting of the cabinet committee on political affairs on Tuesday evening.

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The Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar, the DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran and Trinamool Congress’s Mamata Banerjee were all angry over the Congress’ “unilateral decision”.

The allies claimed that the Congress had not taken the coalition partners into confidence before making the announcement.

The meeting was also attended by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Chidambaram and External Affairs Minister SM Krishna. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will host a dinner on Wednesday to placate the allies.

The CCPA also discussed the possibility of setting up a second State Reorganisation Commission in the wake of growing clamour for smaller states.

The rift within the Congress over the issue also came out into the open in Parliament when Jaganmohan Reddy, son of late Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, joined Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MPs in opposing the creation of Telangana.

Jaganmohan took a placard from TDP MPs and waved it near Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar's podium to establish the point that “we want a united Andhra Pradesh.

Some Congress MPs have demanded action against Jaganmohan Reddy.