Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday assured a 10-member MPs team from Andhra Pradesh that he would discuss with his Cabinet colleagues and try to find some solution to the Telangana issue by Tuesday. The State has been witnessing protests for and against the formation of a Telangana state.
The MPs, belonging to both Houses of Parliament, were from the coastal and Rayalaseema regions.
The Prime Minister agreed to a suggestion that discussions could be held with intellectuals and elders and a consensus arrived at, after the heat generated by the protests cooled down, according to Eluru MP K. Sambasiva Rao.
The former Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh, T. Subbarami Reddy, told The Hindu that Dr. Singh said he would sit with his colleagues after the Rajya Sabha concluded its session on Tuesday and try to convey some message to the people of Andhra Pradesh to bring back normality.
“We wanted the Prime Minister to find an amicable solution to the issue without hurting the feelings of anyone.”
Mr. Sambasiva Rao said Dr. Singh “understood that it is a grave situation” and agreed with the MPs on the need to find an early solution.
Though the team pressed for the continuation of a united Andhra Pradesh it did not say anything against the demands of the Telangana region, he said.
Dr. Singh was briefed about the situation in the coastal and Rayalaseema regions where schools and colleges were closed and buses and other vehicles off the road.
“We told them that if it is not resolved soon, then the situation may go out of control,” Mr. Rao said.
The former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP, N. Janardhana Reddy, and Lok Sabha members A. Venkatarama Reddy (Anantapur), Union Minister Panabaka Lakshmi (Bapatla), K.J. Surya Prakash Reddy (Kurnool), V. Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry) and R. Sambasiva Rao (Guntur) formed part of the delegation.
Plea to shift Lagadapati Rajagopal
The former Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president and Rajya Sabha MP, V. Hanumantha Rao, has urged the State government to shift Vijayawada Lok Sabha member Lagadapati Rajagopal, who is now in NIMS, Hyderabad, to Guntur or any other hospital in Andhra region as his presence in the State capital would aggravate protests against him.
The MP was on a fast demanding continuation of a united Andhra Pradesh.
‘An emotional issue’
“This is an emotional issue and Mr. Rajagopal’s presence in a Hyderabad hospital, which is causing great inconvenience to other patients, may lead to a law and order problem if he is not shifted,” Mr. Hanumantha Rao said.
