BJP today asked Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah to convene an all-party meet to take the state’s Opposition parties into confidence on the Babli issue before meeting the prime minister on the matter.
Mr. Rosaiah is scheduled to lead an all-party delegation that will call on Manmohan Singh on July 26 in Delhi to discuss the contentious Babli barrage issue which has raised political temperatures in both AP and Maharashtra following the protest and subsequent arrest of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.
Addressing a press conference here, BJP national Secretary K. Laxman asked the chief minister to convene an all-party meet immediately to discuss the matter.
“Babli has become a sensitive issue between the two states and there was a need to resolve it amicably before it gets further complicated,” he said.
The Centre should take initiative and call a meeting of chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra to find an amicable solution to the dispute pending since 2005, he said.
Strongly condemning “excesses” by Maharashtra Police while dealing with the protest led by Mr. Naidu, Mr. Laxman said the withdrawal of cases against the arrested TDP leaders by Maharashtra Government indicates that it has admitted its “mistake”.
