Taking exception to the comments of Union Minister and AICC leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on the separate State demand, Congress leaders from Telangana on Monday said they had decided not to accept his invitation to come to Delhi for talks.
“Telangana people are hurt by Azad’s comments that consensus and Assembly resolution are needed for the formation of a separate State,” Congress MP G. Sukhender Reddy told reporters in Hyderabad.
“His remarks that the process should be started from the scratch even after the Sri Krishna Committee submitted its report are objectionable. We are not ready to accept his invitation to come to Delhi, until he withdraws his comments,” Mr. Reddy said after a meeting of Telangana Congress leaders from the district and mandal level held in Hyderabad on Monday.
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While addressing the Indian media in Beijing last week Mr. Azad had said a decision on formation of Telangana State cannot be taken without consensus among legislators of all regions of Andhra Pradesh and that the issue cannot move an “inch” without the State Assembly passing a unanimous resolution.
Congress Rajya sabha member K. Kesava Rao on Monday said the Telangana Congress MPs and other leaders were not against accepting Mr. Azad’s invitation but the party leaders from the district expressed reservation over accepting it.
Mr. Azad, who is in-charge of Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh, had called up Mr. Rao and Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy on Sunday and asked them to come to Delhi for talks.
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