Diggy hopes T State wiil be a reality by 2014

HYDERABAD: Congress State affairs incharge Digvijaya Singh, who has been crystal clear in his assertions that Telangana State will be a reality by 2014 elections, added a rider on Wednesday.

He said, 'Telangana State will be a reality before 2014 polls only when all other political parties cooperate with the Congress to pass the bill in Parliament.' Talking to a TV channel, he said the bill might be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament.

His remarks further added to the ongoing guessing game over the BJP's game plan vis-a-vis the Telangana issue despite the party making it clear time and again that it is for division of the State.

Digvijaya Singh also asserted that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, despite his open defiance, will fall in line. 'There will be no question of the Chief Minister not cooperating with the Centre to bifurcate AP. As a Congressman, I believe, he will honour the party decision,' he said and made it clear there is no possibility of replacing Kiran.

On Seemandhra, he said it was limping back to normalcy and called upon the people of the region not to be apprehensive as the Centre will address their concerns while bifurcating the State.

'Every apprehension of Seemandhra people will be addressed by the Centre. The Centre will announce a good financial package for the construction of a new capital apart from showering various concessions,' he said.

Claiming that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) had never approached them for merging the party with the Congress, Singh said his party will decide on the issue only after taking the views of its Telangana leaders.

Also, reacting for the first time on the allegation that there is a tacit understanding between the Congress and the YSRC, he termed it baseless.

Digvijaya Singh said the allegation was levelled by TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu, who had lost credibility after taking a U-turn on the T-issue.

Meanwhile, it is now becoming clear that a majority of ministers as well as Congress MPs from Seemandhra are unlikely to carry out their threat of resignations.

Even if the resignations of MPs Lagadapti Rajagopal and Vundavalli Arun Kumar are accepted, there are only four others who are likely to press for the acceptance of their resignations.

They are Ananata Venkatarami Reddy, A Sai Pratap, Sabbam Hari and SPY Reddy. Of these four, Venkatarami Reddy and SPY Reddy have already dropped hints that they will be joining the YSRC.

Interestingly, after some Union ministers dropped the United AP demand and decided to opt for extracting a good financial package for their region, some state ministers are changing tack.

Tribal Welfare Minister P Bala Raju, who till the other day had vociferously opposed division of AP, on Wednesday said, 'Now, people of the state have got clarity that bifurcation of AP is certain. If we throw the interests of Seemandhra to the wind at this critical juncture, it will amount to deceiving the people.'

He divulged they would soon go to Delhi and meet the GoM, formed to look into issues arising out of division of AP.