Govt mulls formation of Commission for bifurcation of AP, Maharashtra

All India Congress Committee General Secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs Veerappa Moily on Wednesday said that the United Progressive Alliance government. is considering the formation of the second States Reorganisation Commission to look into the demand for a separate Telangana state and Vidarbha state.

Addressing a media conference, Moily said that AICC president Sonia Gandhi was very concerned about the Telangana issue. He said that he had also discussed the matter with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who headed the UPA sub-committee on the issue.

Moily said that the Pranab Mukherjee-led Committee tried to arrive at a consensus on the issue but the Left parties and the Telugu Desam Party were opposed to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

Moily pointed out that the Congress had promised in its manifesto that it will constitute the second SRC to go into the demands for Telangana state (in AP) and Vidarbha state (in Maharashtra). The Telangana Rashtra Samithi was also a signatory to the Congress promise for the second SRC and the then TRS leader A Narendra had endorsed the  proposal, said Moily.

He claimed that TRS founder K Chandrasekhar Rao was not able to convince the other parties, including other UPA partners, about the Telangana issue. "It is not a one-party rule. There are other coalition partners," Moily said and pointed out that the TRS subsequently left the UPA.

"We are continuing the consultations to arrive at a consensus on the issue," he added.

When queried about the concern of some Congress leaders that the second SRC would be a belated move and that it would cause more harm to the party, Moily said that the state Congress leaders had adopted a resolution that AICC president Sonia Gandhi will "take an appropriate decision at the appropriate time."

He advised the party leaders not to make public statements on the issue but to voice their views in the party fora. Apart from the demands for a separate Telangana and separate Vidarbha, the SRC is being mooted in view of Bahujan Samaj Party president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's demand for the trifurcation of UP. He, however, did not specify the time-frame for constituting the second SRC.