Jagan meets Naveen,gets his support against bifurcation

Orissa CM says Andhra division should be done through consensus.

Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday extended his partys support to YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy who is on a nationwide tour seeking support for his fight against carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.

Division of state is a political,social,economic and emotional issue. In case of Andhra Pradesh,the people of the state should have been consulted and a consensus developed before any decision is taken. It should not be done for narrow political,electoral interest. A sensible political dialogue is missing in the whole process, Naveen told reporters after Reddy met him here to seek his support on the issue. The meeting lasted for about 15 minutes.

Reddy said Article 3 of the Constitution,which allows the Centre to create new States,should be amended to prevent division of states. A unanimous resolution should have been passed in the state Assembly,he said. Jagan has already met BJP president Rajnath Singh,CPM leader Sitaram Yechury,CPI general secretary S Sudhakar Reddy and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Except Mamata,no one has so far expressed support for Jagans move to oppose Telangana statehood.

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Reddys discussion with Patnaik came four days after he met Mamata Banerjee and urged her party to oppose the Telangana Bill in Parliament.

Seeking united efforts to prevent bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh,Reddy said If it is not stopped it could happen to any state tomorrow. It will kill democracy. Let Andhra Pradesh not be a precedent for the divisive tactics of the party in power at the Centre.

Naveen however denied of any discussion on the third front during the meeting.