Congress appeals to pro-Telangana protesters to call off stir

“There is a prolonged agitation in Telangana by employees of the state government. It is almost five weeks since it started. As a result,the general public is suffering…facing hardships particularly during the festival days.

“I would like to appeal to the employees of Telangana to call off the strike,” Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad,who is also in charge of Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh,said today.

Talking to reporters,he said the agitating employees should help the state government provide all facilities which are required for the general public.

Though not giving a timeline to resolve the Telangana issue,he said,”We would like to decide as soon as possible.”

Against the backdrop of the agitation for a separate Telangana state,Kiran Kumar Reddy today also met Home Minister P Chidambaram and Defence Minister A K Antony.

Reddy,who was in the national capital to attend the meeting of National Development Council,had met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence.

“It is not necessary that everything be disclosed to the media,” Reddy had told reporters when pressed to speak on the meeting believed to have discussed the Telangana issue.

Protests in support of a separate Telangana and against it have been continuing in Andhra Pradesh for over a month.