Terming the prevailing situation in Seemandhra sensitive, Pradesh Congress Committee president Botcha Satyanarayana has urged AICC chief Sonia Gandhi to depute a three-member panel to Hyderabad and interact with people.
The PCC chief dashed off a letter to the AICC president on Sunday appealing her to send, a three-member committee --Home Minister S. K. Shinde, M. Veerappa Moily and Digvijay Singh before the Cabinet note is placed before the Union Cabinet. “It will greatly and positively facilitate the process of finding an amicable solution to the issues being raised,” he said.
Incidentally, at a meeting of the senior Ministers on Saturday, a similar demand was made that Group of Ministers should tour the State to find a way out from the present imbroglio. Mr. Satyanarayana said the process of discussion, interaction and giving an opportunity for expressing different opinions and debating on the same would yield results in finding a solution.
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He pointed out that on September 27 one Cabinet Minister had submitted his resignation. The next day, five MPs met the Lok Sabha Speaker to submit their resignations and requested that the same may be accepted immediately. One MP S.P.Y.Reddy joined the YSR Congress, he wrote.
Highly placed party sources pointed out that the central leadership was exploring various options to defuse the situation in Seemandhra. One proposal is to bring Telangana and Seemandhra Congress leaders to the discussion table to thrash out concerns particularly the fate of Hyderabad. The central leaders feel that if some clarity is given on Hyderabad, the agitation in Seemandhra may subside.
In realising this, it is said to be toying with the idea of encouraging some Seemandhra leaders to rake up the issue of making Hyderabad a permanent joint capital. The CWC resolution said that Telangana would be created with 10 districts and Hyderabad as its capital. It also mentioned that Hyderabad would be joint capital for 10 years till new capital was developed in Seemandhra.
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As the party can not go back on that decision, it is reportedly planning to engineer ‘artificial’ demand to make Hyderabad permanent joint capital of the two States. The speculation in the State Congress is that the high command could ask the APCC president to spearhead the new demand as Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has adopted defiant stand and is opposing division tooth and tail.
As Mr. Reddy is slowly emerging as the champion of united AP demand in the ruling party, the PCC chief may not hesitate to accept the challenge.