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Telangana crisis spirals, frantic AP govt seeks Centre's help

December 07, 2009 19:52 IST

 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah may convene an all party meeting on Tuesday to evolve a political consensus on dealing with the Telangana agitation, as the state-wide protests threatened to spiral out of control on Monday.
 
The decision to convene the all-party meeting was taken at the highest level after continuous consultations between the state and central leadership of the Congress.
 
The government is also worried about the worsening health condition of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti leader K Chandrasekhara Rao, who has been on a fast to demand a separate Telangana.
 
State Congress leaders want the central leadership of the party to finalise a strategy to deal with the situation. The remarks by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Veerappa Moily, saying he had nothing to do with the issue and it should be dealt with by the chief minister, has left many senior party leaders aghast.
 
Meanwhile, a meeting of Congress legislators from Telangana region on Monday was marred by a walk-out by Member of Legislative Assembly P Vishnuvardhan Reddy. The meeting was attended by nearly 50 MLAs and Members of Legislative Council.

Before walking out of the meeting, Reddy wondered why Congress legislators had kept quiet when his father late P Janardhan Reddy had raised the issue of Telangana soon after the 2004 assembly elections.

"Would you have held this meeting if (late CM) YS Rajasekhara Reddy was alive," he asked his party colleagues.
 
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Congress president D Srinivas urged the party's central leadership to immediately respond to the volatile situation in the state.
 
The Telangana issue is likely to dominate the proceedings in the state assembly on Tuesday.
 
The TRS has demanded a resolution by the assembly, asking the Centre to form Telangana, but the state government has rejected it, saying it was willing to only hold a debate on the issue.

The Opposition Telugu Desam Party has said that it will support any resolution moved by the government.

To make matters worse, the Osmania University Students' Joint Action Committee has threatened to lay a siege to the state assembly on Thursday.
 
The JAC has said that at least one lakh students from all over the region will gather in Hyderabad and lay a siege to press their demand for a separate Telangana state.
 
The government has started mobilising additional and central paramilitary forces to deal with the situation. Inspector General of Police R P Thakur said that police teams from the coastal Andhra and Rayala Seema region were being requisitioned to Hyderabad.

Mohammed Siddique in Hyderabad