Telangana ministers want ‘time bound’ assurance from Centre over statehood issue

HYDERABAD - Notwithstanding an assurance from Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee that the Centre would soon take a firm decision on the Telangana statehood issue, ministers belonging to the Telangana region have refuted suggestions that they will withdraw their resignations. They have asked the UPA Government at the Centre to come out with a definite time frame for the formation of the Telangana state.

Earlier, the ministers had sent a common resignation letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi in which they pressed for Telangana statehood.

Mukherjee had on Sunday asked the Andhra Pradesh ministers to withdraw their resignations, saying the Central Government would soon come announce some good news on the Telangana issue.

A delegation of thirteen ministers headed by State Information and Tourism Minister Geeta Reddy had met Mukherjee on Sunday to discuss the Centre’s delay in announcing the process for the formation of the Telangana state.

Meanwhile, K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), the chief of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) has formed the Telangana Joint Action Committee with the help of politicians and students supporting the Telangana cause.

KCR has claimed that he will call for an indefinite shutdown from Tuesday over the Telangana issue in the region, if the Central Government does not commit to a schedule for the formation of the new state that it had approved earlier this month. (ANI)