Seemandhra ministers want Antony panel to visit Andhra

Andhra Pradesh ministers from Seemandhra have demanded the Antony committee visit the state to hear the people opposing proposed bifurcation of the state. The four-member committee headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony was constituted by the Congress to address the concerns of Seemandhra people in the wake of the decision to carve out a separate Telangana state.

The ministers made the demand at a meeting held Tuesday at the residence of Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayana Reddy. He told reporters after the meeting that the Antony committee visit the state to meet people and organizations opposing bifurcation.

He said the visit by the panel would help it understand the sentiments of Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra) people, who have been staging protests for over two months. Reddy hoped that the visit by Antony committee would help find a solution to the problem.

"We believe that the problem can be solved only through talks," he said and appealed to leaders of both Telangana and Seemandhra to come forward and make sincere efforts to find a solution. Union Tourism Minister K. Chiranjeevi and state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana also attended the meeting. The state ministers urged Chiranjeevi to mount pressure on the leadership to send the Antony committee to the state.

Reddy said the protests in Seemandhra began broke out after the July 30 decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to carve out separate Telangana state. Referring to the indefinite strike by government employees, teachers and transport workers, he said the situation had created a feeling among people that the government machinery had come to a standstill.

The finance minister said they decided to work with the slogan 'save Andhra Pradesh save Congress'. He said Congress alone had not committed a mistake over Telangana issue, and all parties have gone back on their word.