Cabinet meet on Telangana tomorrow, big decision likely

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: A special meeting of the Union Cabinet has been called by the Centre on Tuesday to discuss the draft Telangana Bill and take a final call on the issue. Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said that the meeting is specially being called to discuss the Telangana issue. The special meeting is taking place ahead of the commencement of the Winter Session on December 5 and Shinde had said that the Telangana Bill will be introduced in the Parliament. During the meeting, the Union Cabinet will also hold discussions on the status of Hyderabad. After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, a final call on whether the city will be made a Union Territory or the joint capital of the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years may also be decided. The meeting will also hold discussion on the status of Hyderabad. After bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, a final call on whether the city will be made a union territory or the joint capital of the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years may also be decided. The move is being made despite stiff opposition from various quarters, including Andhra Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy who is opposed to the bifurcation of the state. Reddy, along with several MPs of the state, have reportedly threatened to quit if the new state is formed. The Congress Core Committee had last month cleared the Telangana Bill that was prepared by the Group of Ministers (GoM). Meanwhile, sources also claimed that two more districts from the Rayalaseema region could be made a part of Telangana as Centre is planning to redraw the boundaries. The proposed addition of two more districts in Telangana has been mentioned in the draft report prepared by the Group of Ministers (GoM), as per news report. Importantly, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu is also due to meet President Pranab Mukherjee today to protest against the formation of separate Telangana state.