‘Andhra solution in 2 days...’

In an attempt to cool the emotionally charged atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh over a separate Telangana state, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may set up a committee to look into various aspects of the issue.

In an attempt to cool the emotionally charged atmosphere in Andhra Pradesh over a separate Telangana state, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may set up a committee to look into various aspects of the issue.

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There is no firm word on this however. But a demand for such a panel was made by a group of anti-Telangana MPs who called on Singh on Monday to convey their opposition to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The Prime Minister assured the delegation that a decision on the statehood issue would be taken “in a day or two”.

If the government does set up such a committee, it will give some breathing space to it while allowing time for tempers to cool in the state, which has been on the boil for 11 days now.

But before taking the decision, Singh is likely to hold meetings to discuss the situation in Andhra and the course of action. This includes consultations with the high profile Congress Core Group that includes party president Sonia Gandhi and senior minister Pranab Mukherjee. The group was in a meeting late Monday.

Missing MP back, top cop suspended
Congress MP Ladgapati Rajagopal, the richest MP according to declared assets, caused the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh acute embarrassment on Monday.

First, he disappeared from a Vijaywada hospital on Sunday night after undertaking a ‘fast-unto-death’ against statehood for Telangana. Fifteen hours later, he appeared on a hospital bed in the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad on Monday.

As TV news channels hyped his disappearance, conjuring various theories, including a possible abduction, the industrialist-turned-politician hitchhiked in a car, then a two-wheeler and finally in an auto-rickshaw to land hale and hearty at Hyderabad’s premier hospital.

Pictures of how he arrived in the state capital were shown on channels, fuelling speculation that the entire drama was stage-managed to deflect attention from the Bus Yatra launched by TDP MLAs and Praja Rajyam Party leader Chiranjeevi’s tour of coastal Andhra to mobilise public opinion against a Telangana state.

Chief Minister K. Rosaiah convened an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss Rajagopal’s disappearance.