By IANS,
Hyderabad : The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh Wednesday termed as a “delaying tactic” the central government’s announcement of a five-member panel to deliberate on a mechanism for a separate Telangana state even as ruling Congress party leaders in the region and elsewhere welcomed the move.
TDP leaders from Telangana said the committee was yet another “delaying tactic” by the centre.
A delegation of TDP leaders led by N. Janardhan Reddy met Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and urged the centre to immediately start the process for the creation of a separate state with a clear time-frame.
Telangana Rashatra Samiti (TRS) leader N. Narasimha Reddy said his party would wait for the government to announce details. They would welcome it only if it is meant to initiate process for carving out a separate state.
The all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Telangana said it would plan its next move only after the centre announces the panel’s brief.
“We will meet once the centre announced terms of reference and other details and then react,” JAC convenor M. Kodandaram said.
“The terms of reference are more important than the persons included in the committee,” he added.
The government Wednesday announced a five-member panel headed by retired Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna to deliberate on a mechanism for a separate Telangana state.
The terms of reference are being drafted and will be finalised in consultation with the chairman and announced shortly, a home ministry statement said.
State Congress president D. Srinivas welcomed the formation of the committee saying it would satisfy all concerned.
“The committee is another step forward for formation of Telangana state,” said Minister for Information Technology K. Venkat Reddy, who is from the Telangana region.
Congress MP from Andhra R. Sambasiva Rao said the committee would “elicit the opinion of all sections of people from all regions of the state and nobody should have any objections to it”.
The other members of the committee are vice chancellor of the National Law University Ranbir Singh, senior research fellow of the International Food Policy Research Institute Abusaleh Shariff, former home secretary Vinod Duggal and Ravinder Kaur, a professor in the department of humanities and social sciences at IIT Delhi.