Chief Minister K. Rosaiah on Friday conceded that Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement on initiating steps for formation of Telangana led to tensions Andhra Pradesh.
Voicing concern over the spate of resignations and the series of protests in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema, the Chief Minister said he was “agitated and really worried.” He was addressing a press conference in the Assembly lobbies after floor leaders of the Opposition parties rejected his plea to issue a joint appeal for maintaining calm in these two regions.
Mr. Rosaiah avoided a reply to a question whether the Centre consulted him beforehand on moving a resolution in the Assembly on Telangana. “When I spoke to Mr. Chidambaram later, he said the Centre would give its advice on the timing of introducing the resolution at an appropriate time.”
He said: “The Congress is a national party and the high command has its way of dealing with sensitive issues.” No timeline was fixed for introduction of the resolution, and he would initiate action on the issue only after receiving advice from the high command.
Mr. Rosaiah refused to comment on the spate of resignations, claiming the party had a system to deal with the issue. Moreover, “Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has not accepted them yet.”
He said he was briefing the party leadership about the developments from time to time.
Joint committee
Mr. Rosaiah said he was contemplating reconstituting the joint committee of the legislature announced by the late Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, to study issues pertaining to Telangana with himself as chairman. “While I have been made Chief Minister, some members of the committee were not re-elected.”
