Congress top brass get YSR, Rao to shake hands

Moving quickly to repair the first cracks in the UPA, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today worked out a compromise between Andhra...

Moving quickly to repair the first cracks in the UPA, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today worked out a compromise between Andhra CM Y.S.R Reddy and TRS chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao on the Telangana issue.

With Rao—the Union Labour Minister—expressing satisfaction over the deal, the stage is set for the return of the six TRS ministers to the Andhra Cabinet. The six had quit this month following differences over the state government’s development plans for the region.

Although both sides evaded a categorical response to questions on the deal after a meeting at the Andhra Bhavan here, Singh told reporters, ‘‘We will take up the issue again later.’’

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Both sides, apparently, have agreed to abide by the decision of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on forming a separate Telangana state. But there was no reference today to the UPA sub-committee headed by Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on the issue or the idea of appointing another state reorganisation commission.

Reflecting the Congress’ keenness to keep TRS on board, CM Reddy relented today on a number of contentious issues involving the region—he agreed to implement a government order that provides job guarantees to people of Telangana.

The two parties also decided to jointly submit a petition to the Prime Minister to sanction a special package for the development of Telangana, and appealed to Naxalites to give up violence.

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