T, Seemandhra netas not on speaking terms

Hyderabad: The decision of the Congress Working Committee to bifurcate the state and the opposition to it from Seemandhra region has resulted in a piquant situation. The Congress leaders are not only divided on regional lines but have also stopped openly meeting each other.

While the Chief Minister’s camp office has become the chosen place for the meeting of Seemandhra leaders, the camp office of Deputy Chief Minister D Rajanarasimha and the house of Panchayat Raj minister K Jana Reddy have become the hub of activity for pro Telangana leaders.

Though the T ministers are once in a while meeting the Chief Minister in his office, the number of such meetings and the time they spend with him have come down. The Seemandhra leaders have virtually stopped visiting Gandhi Bhavan. The only link between the leaders of both the regions is the PCC president Botcha Satyanarayana. The deputy Chief Minister called on Botcha at Gandhi Bhavan few days back. Similarly, Panchayat Raj ministers K Jana Reddy met Botcha at his residence to discuss the issues to be presented before the Antony committee.

The PCC president in an informal chat recently felt that he had got the advantage since he was not out rightly opposed to bifurcation and at the same time wants the rights of the Seemandhra people to be protected. Asked if the Congress high command was proposing to form Telangana PCC, Botcha said he was not aware of it. It was more of a media creation, he added.