PM hopes for Telangana solution; Shinde says by December

Zee Media Bureau/Ajith Vijay Kumar New Delhi: Hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed the hope that the Group of Ministers (GoM) looking into the Telangana issue will come up with a "solution", Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the panel will submit its report before the Winter Session of Parliament. "The matter is now before the Group of Ministers (GoM). They are going into all aspects of the problem and I am sure they will come out with viable solution to this very difficult and complicated problem," the PM had said while on his way back home from an overseas trip. The Prime Minister also expressed confidence that Telangana will become a reality before the 2014 elections. Home Minister Shinde, who also heads the panels, said, “GoM on Telanagana to submit report before the Winter Session of Parliament.” The Winter Session of Parliament is expected to begin in the first week of December. The GoM was constituted to address all the issues that need resolution at the central and state government levels in the matter. The panel has assured all stakeholders that it would address all concerns of the people of Andhra Pradesh with "fairness and objectivity". The GoM is looking into issues concerning sharing of river water, power, distribution of assets and boundaries. The legal and administrative measures required to ensure that both Telangana and residuary state of Andhra Pradesh can function efficiently from Hyderabad as the common capital for 10 years is also being looked into by the panel. Besides Shinde, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M Veerappa Moily and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh are the other members of the GoM. The Union Cabinet last month decided that the new state of Telangana would be created after splitting Andhra Pradesh, triggering protests and opposition from the regions of Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra called Seemandhra. Meanwhile, a delegation of ministers, MPs and MLAs from Seemandhra region of met President Pranab Mukherjee and sought his intervention on the Telangana issue.

With PTI inputs