HYDERABAD: Members of the Telangana Congress steering committee, who refused to meet Union minister and AICC general secretary in charge of AP affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad in Delhi on Monday, changed their mind on Wednesday and decided to meet him in New Delhi on July 21.They decided not to be rigid on the ground that Azad had given a ‘clarification’ about his statement on Telangana made in China recently.After Azad had called up steering committee chairman and Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao inviting Telangana Congress leaders to talks in Delhi, committee members go into a huddle at the residence of minister K Jana Reddy and discussed whether to visit Delhi or not and to have discussions with Azad at this juncture.Talking to newsmen later, Nalgonda MP and committee spokesman Gutta Sukhender Reddy asserted that their decision to visit Delhi was meant to hold consultations only on issues relating to Telangana state formation. The question of taking back their resignations will arise only if the Centre gives a categorical assurance on carving out Telangana state. “The memorandum submitted by the Seemandhra Congress leaders to prime minister Manmohan Singh is full of lies. Consultations with us should centre on creation of a separate state and nothing else,” he said.Another spokesman and MLA Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy said that they were not trying to get an appointment with the prime minister or other central leaders during their two-day stay in Delhi since they had already expressed their views on Telangana to them. The issue of resignations will not arise since they submitted them only after informing the central leaders. “Our agenda is only Telangana, and any discussions with the central leaders should be on that. Our proposed Satyagraha will be conducted at all the 483 mandal headquarters between 10 am and 5 pm on Wednesday.”Gandra demanded that TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu apologise to Telangana people for talking about mid-term elections. “Instead of trying to find a solution to the Telangana issue, the opposition leader is talking about mid-term elections with an eye on capturing power,” he said.Meanwhile, Peddapally MP and committee coordinator G Vivek dismissed fears that Maoist violence would increase in Telangana. Naxalites were, in fact, more active in North Andhra than in Telangana. Besides, Seemandhra leaders misrepresented facts to the prime minister by stating that Maoists were involved in the Telangana movement, he said.Replying to a query, Vivek asserted that there was no question of accepting special autonomy for Telangana on the lines of Gorkhaland.On the other hand, members of the Telangana Congress Monitoring Group (TCMG) who include chief coordinator R Ananda Bhaskar, convener G Niranjan and others, in a letter urged Azad to first create confidence among the people of the region that he was impartial towards Telangana and Seemandhra leaders. They wanted Azad to complete the consultation process before August 1.
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