Five parties to meet GoM today

• 7 parties to present their cases, GoM to meet them separately

• Cong divided, sending one rep eachfrom both regions; so is BJP

• TDP calls it hogwash, to boycott meet

• KCR threatens to revive stir over Hyderabad

The Group of Ministers (GoM), set up to look into the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, will separately meet seven political parties in two days from Tuesday to discuss various issues related to the creation of Telangana. The ministers would meet the representatives of MIM, BJP,CPI, Congress and TRS in that order on Wednesday.

The rest will be heard on Thursday. TDP, the main Opposition party, has declared that it would boycott the meeting. Though the decision to hear the political parties was taken to make the parties publicly commit once again their position on the issue of bifurcation, such a possibility appears to be bleak as the Ministry of Home Affairs has invited two representatives from each party and all of them barring TRS and MIM are sending one representative each from Telangana and Seemandhra region. Calling the meeting hogwash, the TDP has decided to boycott. The TRS team consisting of party president K Chandrasekhar Rao and secretary general K Keshav Rao left for New Delhi on Monday evening. Before leaving for Delhi, KCR held series of meetings with his colleagues to finalise the stand on the issues the TRS would present before the GoM.

The TRS announced that it would mount a huge movement once again if the Centre imposed any limitations for the new Telangana State as far as Hyderabad is concerned. KCR said the Telangana government should have all powers over the city. The TRS will also oppose any move to grant UT status to Hyderabad and the proposal to merge Bhadrachalam with East Godavari district, he declared.

The YSR Congress party on Monday deputed party senior leader M V Mysura Reddy and G Ramachandra Rao to attend the meeting. Ramachandra Rao, who hails from Khammam district in Telangana, said his party would strongly oppose the move to bifurcate the state. These two leaders will be leaving for Delhi on Tuesday afternoon. Worried over the way their Seemandhra counterparts intensified lobbying to convince the Group of Ministers to make Hyderabad a Union Territory for a period of ten years when Hyderabad would be the joint capital after division of the state, the T leaders met on Monday and decided to make a strong plea for Telangana state consisting of 10 districts which would include Hyderabad. "We need a Telangana state with 10 districts, 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 assembly segments, the T leaders said.

The T leaders including Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy and several State ministers, who met here today at Minister Jana Reddy’s residence, briefed Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha on the stand he should take on various issues at the GoM meeting. On the other hand, Minister Vatti Vasant Kumar along with leaders like J C Diwakar Reddy, Gade Venkat Reddy met Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and discussed issues relating to the presentation they wish to make opposing division of the state.

The Congress team would leave for New Delhi on Tuesday morning. The BJP which will be represented by state president G Kishen Reddy and the party leader from Seemandhra region Haribabu will present the views and apprehensions of people from respective regions. These leaders are likely to meet their party national president Rajnath Singh before meeting the GoM. Nothing new or revealing can be expected from the parleys the GoM is going to have with the representatives of the political parties from AP.

It is just a formality intended to answer the criticism of the Opposition parties that the UPA government is taking decisions unilaterally. The TDP which demanded that an all party meeting should be held, has ironically, decided to stay away. The MIM which would be represented by Assaduddin Owaisi would vehemently oppose moves to make Hyderabad a union territory. The CPI will be represented by state secretary K Narayana and Jelli Wilson. CPM will be represented by B V Raghavulu and Julakanti Ranga Reddy. The CPM will strongly oppose bifurcation of the state.