'No consensus on Telengana in UPA'

Earlier this week, Rao resigned to protest UPA govt's failure to take a decision on Telengana issue.

The Centre had not been able to take a decision on the formation of a separate state of Telengana owing to lack of consensus on the issue within the UPA, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday.

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"The UPA could not arrive at a consensus on the formation of Telengana. We had informed about this to (Telengana Rashtriya Samity leader) Chandrashekhar Rao," Mukherjee told reporters.

Left parties like CPI(M), CPI and RSP, which provide outside support to UPA, have also opposed formation of a separate Telengana state, he said, adding Samajwadi Party, another UPA supporter is also against a Telengana state.

Earlier this week, Rao resigned from the union ministry in protest against the UPA government's failure to take a decision on the Telengana issue.

According to Mukherjee, Rao suggested the government to seek support from the BJP after the UPA failed to arrive at a consensus on the issue.

"But we told him that BJP has changed its stand on many issues. Besides, it is not possible for us to take its support selectively when we are opposed to it politically," Mukherjee said.