NEW DELHI: Eight national and regional parties discussed the Telangana logjam with Home Minister P. Chidambaram here Tuesday for four hours, but there was no consensus on an issue that has violently split up Andhra Pradesh.

The political parties, ranging from the ruling Congress to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), did issue a joint statement urging people to be calm, but the TRS insisted on breaking up of Andhra to form a state of Telangana.

"It is our earnest appeal that peace, harmony and law and order should be maintained in the state," the parties said in a brief statement.

A chastened Chidambaram admitted that political opinion on Telangana remained divided and he pledged to talk to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior cabinet colleagues to evolve a mechanism to resolve the row.

While the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Congress appeared ambivalent over the contentious issue, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which supports the Congress-led government, demanded President's Rule in the state.

MIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi suggested that a committee of political leaders, bureaucrats or a sitting judge of the Supreme Court must study the concerns of people from various regions.

"Muslims are a party to the dispute. The state is heading towards financial emergency. The (central government) should impose President's Rule," Owaisi told reporters.

TDP leader Y. Ramakrishnudu said the meeting was "not at all fruitful".

"The Congress government in the state or the centre could not spell out a single word to resolve the law and order problem and put a full stop to agitations (in favour of and against Telangana)," he said.

TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, whose hunger strike in November-December forced New Delhi to announce that it was starting the process to set up Telangana, refused to compromise.

Unlike other political leaders, the TRS leader did not talk to journalists after the meeting.

Congress leader K.S. Rao said the meeting was held to lay down a roadmap for further consultations.

"We have given our opinion to the home minister. Some parties supported the suggestion that all stakeholders should be consulted while others said there was no need for any consultation," he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was very critical of the Congress and the central government.

BJP veteran Bandaru Dattatreya said there was no need for further consultations and asked the government to bring a bill in the next session of parliament to create a separate state of Telangana.

"There was no solution to the real problem. The Congress government is not clear about the issue," he said, even as many parts of Andhra Pradesh remained paralysed on account of emotive protests by supporters as well as opponents of a Telangana state.
Andhra Pradesh officials reported that scores of trains were halted all across the state as both sides of the Telangana divide wanted to prove their strength.

Though Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) party chief Chiranjeevi said the meeting was "not fully satisfactory", he favoured constituting a committee to talk to various sections of the people.

"Unlike the Congress and TDP, our stand is very clear. We are for unified Andhra Pradesh," the actor-turned-politician said. He added that the government should try to restore peace in the state.

The MIM leader alleged that Chidambaram gave no clear answer when asked if the meeting had been called only for consultations or to carry out the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, one of India's biggest states.

The TDP warned that the agitations sweeping Andhra Pradesh were no more in the hands of political parties "but in the hands of the people".

The proposed Telangana will be made up of 10 districts that Telangana votaries say remains backward compared to the rest of Andhra Pradesh.
While the Communist Party of India favours Telangana, the Communist Party of India-Marxist is opposed to it.
The meeting was also attended by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and Home Secretary G.K. Pillai. 

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Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday appealed to political parties in Andhra Pradesh to halt agitations and ensure law and order as they deliberated a mechanism to break the logjam on the issue of statehood to Telangana.

He also denied that the central government had acted in haste in announcing its nod to creation of a separate Telangana state.

“We must recognise the fundamental importance of restoring normalcy in Andhra Pradesh.  There must be a halt to agitations and bandhs. Law and order must be maintained. Children must go to schools and colleges. People must be allowed to carry on their normal day-to-day activities,” the home minister said in his opening remarks.

Representatives of the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), the Communist Party of India and the Communist Party of India-Marxist, the Praja Rajyam Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen are taking part in the talks.

At the outset Chidambaram tried to clear the air over the misconception surrounding the statehood issue that has seen widespread agitations in the state.

“There are a number of misconceptions surrounding the issues that have brought us here today. There is a misconception that the central government acted in haste; that the political parties were not consulted; and that I, as home minister, acted as an individual,” he said.

“As you are well aware, none of these misconceptions is supported by facts, but I shall not waste your time refuting these misconceptions.”

The home minister urged the political parties to show accommodation and goodwill.

“Ultimately, you must find the answers and you must help the central government find a solution. The agenda for this meeting may appear limited, but I am confident that if we take one step at a time we will, eventually, find a solution.”

Leaders from the state's Rayalaseema and Andhra regions, who are bitterly opposed to a separate Telangana state, were also present.

Telangana region comprises 10 districts, including capital Hyderabad.

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HYDERABAD: Stating that politicians from Telangana had betrayed the people of the region by not pressing the demand for formation of Telangana State since 1952, freedom fighter Burgula Narsing Rao said today that pro- Telangana organisations should chalk out a plan to strengthen the ongoing agitation if tomorrow’s allparty meeting in Delhi failed to arrive at a consensus.

The Hyderabad Forum for Telangana convened a meeting to discuss `Hyderabad: Myths, Facts and Realities’ at the Urdu Hall here.

Participating in the debate, Narsing Rao said politicians from Telangana had conceived and nurtured the idea of a separate State but jettisoned it when they were in power. Nonimplementation of the Gentlemen’s Agreement and Mulki rule by successive governments made the people frustrated, he pointed out.
``Nizam’s prime minister Salar Jung had introduced modern administration in the then Hyderabad state and invited administrators from the neighboring regions. The public works department was established in 1868 and a municipal administration system was first introduced in 1869 in the city.

``A taxation structure was also established for revenues from properties, transportation, water supply and roads and buildings. The municipal administration soon built a number of public buildings, hospital and gardens to develop the city. No effort was made by Andhra and Rayalaseema leaders in developing Hyderabad,’’ Rao asserted.

Ali Zahir, a well-known Urdu poet, said that all Muslims were extending their support to the current agitation for a separate Telangana. The Telangana region would develop if the separate state were formed. Hyderabad city will certainly be the capital of Telangana,’’ he said.
Mallepalli Lakshmaiah, senior journalist, warned that if leaders from Andhra and Rayalaseema continued to come in the way of a separate Telangana, the people of the region would teach them a bitter lesson.

``All Andhra and Rayalaseema politicians are focused on Hyderabad because they invested crores of rupees in and around the city,’’ he alleged.

Rama Melkote, president of Hyderabad Forum for Telangana, and M Vedakumar, president of Better Forum for Hyderabad, also attended the meeting.

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