Hyderabad:
On eve of his visit to New Delhi to present a "road map" to Congress leadership for resolving the vexatious Telangana issue, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Wednesday night held talks with his Cabinet colleagues.
Kiran separately met Ministers from Andhra-Rayalaseema and Telangana regions and elicited their views on the long-pending statehood issues.
Expectedly, the Ministers stuck to their respective stands with those from Telangana strongly pitching for a separate state and those from Andhra-Rayalaseema pressing for a unified Andhra Pradesh.
They wanted the Chief Minister to convey their wishes clearly to the Congress high command, which is expected to take a decision on the statehood issue at a crucial Core Committee meeting on Friday.
Kiran will reach the national capital tomorrow night with his "road map", sources said. Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha, who has been asked to prepare a separate road map, did not attend the meeting with Kiran.
Telangana Ministers J Geeta, D K Aruna, V Sunita Laxma Reddy, Basavaraj Saraiah, G Prasad Kumar and Danam Nagender attended the meet. The Chief Minister spoke to the Ministers individually.
Talking to reporters later, the Ministers said they categorically told the Chief Minister that there was no other solution to the problem except creating a separate Telangana state.
The recent statements of Digvijay Singh, AICC General Secretary in-charge of AP affairs, has enhanced people's hope that Congress would deliver a separate state, they said.
Ministers from Andhra-Rayalaseema also conferred with the Chief Minister and pressed their case for a unified Andhra Pradesh.
Among those present were PCC chief and Transport Minister Botsa Satyanarayana and Ministers S Sailajanath, Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad, Pitani Satyanarayana, Ahmedullah and ex-Ministers Dharmana Prasada Rao and Gade Venkat Reddy.
They warned that AP's development would be severely hampered if the state was divided. Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Aanam Ramanarayana Reddy and Sailajanath met Kiran in the Secretariat and submitted a memorandum demanding that the State be kept united.
Sailajanath later said a meeting would be organised on July 16 in support of unified Andhra Pradesh.
