Beijing: Maintaining that a decision on
formation of Telangana state cannot be taken without consensus
among legislators of all regions of Andhra Pradesh, Health
Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday said the issue cannot move an
"inch" without the State Assembly passing a unanimous
resolution.
"Telangana is a burning issue. I cannot deny that fact,"
Azad, who is also the General Secretary of the Congress Party,
told Indian media here.
Azad is here to attend the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa) Health Ministers` conference.
"While there are deep sentiments close to heart of each
and everyone in Telangana, there are also sentiments in
Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh. So
unless we take everybody on board it will be very difficult to
decide," he said.
"The basic and most important thing is that, while we
have sympathy for the sentiments of the people of Telangana
and I respect the sentiments of people of Telangana, at the
same time for division of any state we need total consensus,"
he said.
Unless there was a consensus and full cooperation from
the legislators of Seemandhra and Rayalaseema, a resolution
cannot be passed, Azad said.
"If we have to do this we have to pass a unanimous
resolution. Unless a unanimous resolution is passed, we cannot
move one inch," he said.
Azad, who is in charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs in the
Congress party, sounded critical of Sri Krishna Commission not
coming out with one solution to resolve the vexed issue.
PTI
