By IANS,
Hyderabad : Differences in the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) over the issue of a separate Telangana state Sunday came to fore with a section of leaders demanding a separate unit of the party for the region.
Even as TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu was holding talks with some leaders to discuss the formation of a coordination committee for Telangana, another group held a parallel meeting at the residence of senior leader and legislator Nagam Janardhan Reddy.
Unhappy with the Naidu’s reported move to include some anti-Telangana leaders in the panel, the group demanded that the party form a separate unit for the region.
“We want a separate party unit for Telangana so that it can take forward the movement for Telangana state. We will convey our demand to our leader,” Janardhan Reddy told reporters.
The former minister denied a split in the party and claimed that Naidu was still their leader. E. Dayakar Rao, Kadiam Srihari, Harishwar Reddy, Gampa Goverdhan and Uma Madhava Reddy were among the leaders who met at the residence of Janardhan Reddy, the convenor of TDP Telangana Forum.
Another section of TDP leaders from Telangana, including MP N. Nageswara Rao, met Naidu to discuss setting up of a coordination committee for the region.
Former chief minister Naidu is from Rayalaseema region and is keeping silent on the demand for a separate Telangana state. He has not yet reacted to the Srikrishna committee’s report that was made public Thursday.
TDP had supported the demand for a Telangana state before the 2009 elections but like the ruling Congress, it was also vertically divided along regional lines after the central government announced Dec 9, 2009 that the process for formation of Telangana state will be initiated.
Since then Naidu has avoided taking a clear stand on Telangana.