Union ministers opt for good package

HYDERABAD: With the Congress central leadership showing no sign of slowing down formation of Telangana state, several Seemandhra Union ministers are having second thoughts now.

Instead of pressing for a united Andhra Pradesh, some of them are keen on getting a better deal for Seemandhra since division appears imminent.

Till recently, all the Central ministers had sought measures to keep the state united with pressure mounting on them in their respective constituencies.

The Samaikyandhra agitation too was very fierce till recently with APNGOs and Samaikyandhra Joint Action Committee making it clear that either they step down or face the music.

After the Centre constituted the Group of Ministers, many Central ministers appear to have got the feeling that no matter how long the agitation continues, the Centre would deliver Telangana.

As electricity and RTC employees and teachers have called off their strike and APNGOs also appear to be in the mood to end the impasse, the Central ministers are veering round to the conclusion that the best bet is to play along with the Centre.

Union minister D Purandeswari, who was in the forefront along with others in demanding that the state should remain united, said though she would be the first person to feel happy if the Telangana bill is defeated in Parliament, she was also a practical person.

'When it is more or less certain that Telangana is going to be formed, there is no point in stepping down from Cabinet and demanding something that is not going to be delivered. Instead, it would be prudent to remain in office and get as much as we could for our region,' Purandeswari said.

Minister of state Killi Krupa Rani was more forthright in saying that she would continue in office to get the maximum for Seemandhra region. 'I have not resigned and I will not.

I know that my resignation will not keep the state united. Then why should I resign? Instead, I would try to be useful to my people by being in the council of ministers,' she said.

Another minister of state Panabaka Lakshmi has already stated that she was in favour of division of the state because it is the decision of the party though she was personally against it.

'I follow the party high command's direction,' Lakshmi said, while another Union minister V Kishore Chandra Deo had already said in the past that he had no objection to the division of the sate.

Except Union minister MM Pallam Raju, the guns of other ministers from Seemandhra have suddenly fallen silent. Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, Chiranjeevi and other state ministers are either silent or not as forceful as they used to be in the past in demanding that the state should remain united.

Pallam Raju, however, still says he wants his resignation accepted and that he was committed to Samaikyandhra cause.

The Union minister was gheraoed at Pithapuram in East Godavari district on Monday by Samaikyandhra activists who demanded that he should resign and join the movement.

But the inveterate optimist, state minister S Shailajanath, says the forum of Congress MLAs and MLCs would meet on Oct 17 to draw a new strategy to bring pressure on the party high command to keep the state united.

'Those Central ministers who said they were not opposing division are only expressing their personal views,' he said and maintained that the legislators--both MLAs and MPs--are firm that the state should remain united.