New Delhi: Despite the wave of protests in Andhra Pradesh, the Centre is going ahead and taking the next step to meet the Telangana statehood. The Group of Ministers on Telangana will meet at Finance Minister P Chidambaram's office at 5 pm on Monday.
Home Minister Sushil Shinde will also meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh just before the Telangana meeting. The 10-member GoM has to give its report within six weeks so that the Bill on the new state could be tabled in Parliament in the winter session.
It would make recommendations on the boundaries of Telangana, division of bureaucracy and sharing of assets and resources, including river water and irrigation projects.
This comes even as 13 districts of Seemandhara are virtually shut down. More than 50,000 workers from the power sector have joined anti-Andhra Pradesh bifurcation protests.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has now appealed to power employees to rethink their strike on humanitarian grounds. So far, they have refused to budge. Reddy will be meeting other employees associations soon.
Meanwhile, shoot-at-sight orders remain in place in curfew-bound Vizianagaram.
YSR Congress chief Jagan Reddy's indefinite fast has entered its third day on Monday. TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu is in Delhi for his hunger strike too.
However, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh has dismissed the claims of the Jagan Mohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu that they did not support the creation of Telangana during the all-party meetings held in New Delhi.
Digvijaya Singh said, "We have letters of support from Jagan and Naidu to show that they supported the idea of Telangana," He also appealed them to call off the fast against Andhra Pradesh's bifurcation. He said that the fast will not serve any purpose.
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