NEW DELHI: Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday denied any flip-flop on his part on the issue of carving out a separate State of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh. Chidambaram, who has convened a crucial all-party meeting on Telangana in the Capital on January 5, to hammer out a consensus on the issue, explained that what appeared like the Centre's flip-flop was only its response to an altered situation.
Chidambaram said on Dec. 7, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah convened a meeting of the floor leaders of the political parties in the State Legislature. All political parties, except the CPM, supported the proposal to adopt a resolution in the State Assembly for creation of Telangana. The CPM referred to the stand taken by the party before the Pranab Mukherjee Committee. The Majlis-e-Itthehad-ul-Muslimeen (MIM) observed that the proper forum to express its views was the Legislative Assembly. "The minutes of the meeting were received by the Central Government on December 8, 2009. After considering the minutes, the Central Government decided to initiate the process of forming the State of Telangana," Chidambaram said.
On Dec. 9, it was announced that 'an appropriate resolution will be moved in the State Assembly. The key words in that statement were process, appropriate resolution and moved. "In the background of the minutes of the all party meeting, I would like to ask, what was wrong with that statement?" Chidambaram asked.
The National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the Congress-led UPA Government in the previous term contained a paragraph on Telangana, which read: "The UPA Government will consider the demand for the formation of a Telangana State at an appropriate time after due consultations and consensus." Major political parties in Andhra Pradesh contested the 2009 Assembly elections on manifestos that, in one manner or other, declared support for the formation of a separate State of Telangana, Chidambaram pointed out.
Chidamaram explained that following his announcement, major political parties in Andhra Pradesh witnessed deep divisions among their members, especially MPs and MLAs. It was obvious that the situation had altered. The Government tried its best to bridge the differences. Unfortunately, there was no agreement and it was felt that there was a need to hold further consultations with all political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh. Hence, another statement was made on behalf of the Central Government on December 23, emphasizing the need for wide ranging consultations and promising to take steps to involve all concerned in the process. "I do not understand why this was described by the media as a flip-flop. There was no flip-flop on the part of the Central Government. The Government was simply responding to the altered situation as a result of divisions in the political parties," he said.
