Zee Media Bureau/Sushmita Dutta
New Delhi/Hyderabad: In a bid to garner support for a `United` Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Saturday met Left leaders in the national capital.
Jagan today sought the support of two Left parties to defeat the Telangana Bill when it is introduced in Parliament.
As per the schedule, Jagan also met CPI general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy and senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury separately as part of his mission.
And, although CPI refused to express solidarity with YSR Congress, CPI(M) maintained its position against any division of states.
Following his meetings with the two Left leaders, Jaganmohan warned that the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh would set a bad precedence which would see the government at the Centre dividing states as per its "whims and fancies for electoral gains".
"Today, it happens to be Andhra Pradesh, tomorrow, it can be Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu... Anybody with a 272 majority in Lok Sabha can draw a line and split states," he told reporters here.
During his meeting with the CPI general secretary, Jaganmohan said that 75 per cent of the population in Andhra Pradesh was against the proposed bifurcation.
"He wanted us to reconsider our decision. But we reiterated that Telangana should be divided and separate statehood should be given," Sudhakar Reddy told reporters.
Sharing the details of his meeting with Jaganmohan, the CPI leader said that the former had raised apprehensions about the misuse of Article 3, which empowers the Centre to divide states.
Meanwhile, Reddy is also scheduled to meet the BJP top brass on Monday.
He also plans to tour other state capitals and meet the heads of regional parties as well.
Last month the YSR Congress chief had accused Congress president Sonia Gandhi of splitting Andhra Pradesh so as to make her son Rahul the prime minister.
Recently, Andhra Pradesh has witnessed huge protests against the central government`s decision to carve out Telangana.
The Centre has set up a seven-member group of ministers (GoM) to look into issues of the bifurcation.
It comprises Defence Minister AK Antony, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.
With PTI inputs
