Sharad Yadav for NIC meet on T

New Delhi: JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav on Monday lambasted the Centre for failing to handle the Telangana issue correctly and demanded that the government call a meeting of the National Integration Council (NIC) instead of holding an all-party meeting on Tuesday. The situation in Andhra Pradesh is causing concern due to its wide reaching ramifications in the country. Congress has failed to handle the sensitive issue of Telangana and committed a series of blunders, Yadav told reporters here.

He said the issue has been spoilt by the Congress and that the party has put the cart before the bullock .
The all-party meeting called by home minister P Chidambaram tomorrow on the issue will not be beneficial. Instead a meeting of the National Integration Council should be called to discuss the issue, the JD(U) chief said. Yadav urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take the initiative in this direction, keeping national interest in mind. The government made a statement on December 9, announcing initiation of process for Telanganas formation . This led to unprecedented upsurge among the people of coastal AP and Rayalseema . Again on December 23, the government made another statement assuring that due to division of opinion within political parties , wide ranging talks will be held on the matter. This led to agitations in Telangana and now as a sequel, the government has called this all-party meeting , Yadav said.

This callous handling of the issue has now given rise to more than a dozen demands for separate states, Yadav said, adding that political opportunism of the UPA against the wishes of its own partners will have far reaching consequences on national politics in the long run. 
(SOURC-TOI)