The Lok Satta Party has decided to boycott the Group of Ministers constituted by the Central government on bifurcation of the State.
Party State president K. Srinivasa Rao alleged that the LSP was firm that it would welcome formation of Telangana if it was arrived at on the basis of comprehensive and amicable solution. But far from working out such a solution, the Congress saw separate Telangana as a party issue with an eye on votes and seats in the next elections.
The Lok Satta had rejected the committee headed by A.K. Antony earlier claiming the Centre should have appointed a Parliamentary panel or the one comprising Union Ministers. LSP founder Jayaprakash Narayan too faulted the manner in which the Centre handled the issue without involvement of stakeholders of all the regions.
“The feelings of the people of Telangana should definitely be respected. But the manner in which Delhi (Centre) is acting on the issue is not proper,” Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan told reporters. He called on Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday when the issue came up for discussion.
The visit, Dr. Jayaprakash said, was a courtesy call after Mr. Naidu’s discharge from the hospital. The two leaders discussed the way the Centre was acting on the sensitive issue and felt that a State’s formation should not be seen as a mere political decision as it was a federal matter. “If we ride roughshod over the processes involved and Delhi decides about Telangana, we will be converting federal India into a unitary India which is not welcome,” he said.
He faulted the functioning of the Group of Ministers constituted to look into the bifurcation issue claiming: “The GoM cannot act the way it is doing now. It should not be a political issue for short-term gains,” he said.
