New Delhi: A crucial meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA) was held on Monday to take a decision on the issue of creating a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh. The meeting was held in view of the rising pressure from the Congress, TDP and TRS legislators from the region.
According to reports, the CCPA meeting was held under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh at his 7, Race Course Road residence.
The CCPA meeting comes shortly after 10 Congress MPs and 39 Congress MLAs, including 11 ministers and 34 TDP MLAs from the Telangana region resigned from Parliament and Andhra Pradesh State Assembly in a bid to put more pressure on the Centre for an early decision on separate Telangana.
Even as the centre launched serious consultation process with all major stake holders, the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC), which is spearheading the movement for a separate Telangana state, has called for a two-day shutdown in the region beginning on Tuesday.
JAC, which comprises the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other political and non-political groups, has also called for a rail blockade on July 8 and 9.
TRS chief K Chandrasekhara Rao appealed to the people to make the 48-hour shut down a total success. He also urged the government employees and workers of the state-owned Singareni Collieries to participate in the strike.
KCR, as Rao is popularly known, said that the JAC has chalked out a series of protest programmes to demand that the central government table a bill in parliament for formation of a separate Telangana state.
JAC convenor M Kodandaram appealed to all mass organisations to make the shutdown a huge success.
He said eat and cook protests, whereby people from all walks of life will set up kitchens on roads, cook food and eat there, will be held across Telangana on July 10.
Telangana comprises of 10 districts, including Hyderabad.
First Published: Monday, July 04, 2011, 18:19