MIM CHIEF HOLDS TALKS , RAYAPATI SAYS NO BIFURCATION OF STATE

MIM chief to hold talks with party MLAs on T

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi will hold confabulations with his party legislators in New Delhi on Sunday to firm up a strategy for the January 5 meeting called by Union home minister P Chidambaram to discuss the Telangana issue. We dont know what would be discussed at the meeting. No agenda has been given to us so far. Looks like it will be the first in a series of such meetings. Against this background, MIM feels that the time has come for the party to spell out its stand on the state bifurcation issue, Owaisi told STOI over phone from New Delhi.

He said it is good that the Centre has decided to hold broad-based talks. Given the existing divergence of views, MIM expects the meeting to be lively and interesting. Since the issue of separate Telangana has a bearing on the Muslims and the MIM fortunes , Owaisi is said to have decided to keep the party policy a secret until the confusion and divisions in major political parties are settled.
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No bifurcation of state, Rayapati tells party high command
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Senior Congress MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao has urged the party high command not to go for bifurcation of the state as it would not help the Congress and benefit only the regional parties. He said that the formation of separate Telangana would help revive the Telangana Rastra Samiti (TRS) in that region and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in the coastal region. Speaking to reporters here on Saturday , Sambasiva Rao said that a careful study on the political fortunes of the Congress party in the coming years should also be done before a final decision is taken on the Telangana issue. He said that some senior Congress leaders from the state misguided the high command resulting in the political stalemate in the state. Some leaders are overambitious and want to improve their political fortunes in the area. They are not bothered about the partys future prospects in the state and are only concerned about their careers, the MP said.

He said the Congress high command should not rely on the promises of TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao or his representatives as he was never a reliable politician. If Telangana is created, Congress would have to live at his mercy in the region even after fulfilling the said aspirations of the local public, he said, adding that the party would not be in a safe zone even in the coastal and Rayalaseema regions as the people would definitely blame the Congress for the separation of the state.

Meanwhile, heavy industries minister Kanna Lakshminarayana blamed opposition leader N Chandrababu Naidu for the trouble in the state. He said that Naidu was solely responsible for the ongoing political war in the state as his double-standard policy on the Telangana issue led to the present crisis.
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(SOURCE : TOI)