Sonia will not go back on Telangana, say MPs

Sonia GandhiNew Delhi, Dec 16 : Congress president Sonia Gandhi will not go back on her pledge to set up a separate Telangana, party MPs favouring the new state said here Wednesday.

"There is no 'if' and 'but' in her dictionary. She will not go back from her promise," said Sarvey Sathyanarayana, the Congress MP from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency from Telangana region.

"She has already given a promise. She did justice to us," the MP told IANS.

Meanwhile, Congress MPs who want Andhra Pradesh to remain united met top leaders of the party and the government separately at parliament house.

While Congress MPs from coastal Andhra and Rayalseema region met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Congress MPs from Telangana met Congress general secretary M. Veerappa Moily and Mukherjee.

"I am for United Andhra Pradesh," Minister of State for Human Resource Development (HRD) D. Purandeswari told IANS, before meeting the prime minister and Mukherjee.

The MPs from coastal Andhra and Rayalseema region said they told the prime minister and Mukherjee to issue a clarification on the "controversial statement" of Home Minister P. Chidambaram last week that a separate Telangana state would be formed.

"We requested them to give us a direction to contain the temper of the people in the region," said an Andhra MP on condition of anonymity. "There should be some assurance from the government for maintaining the peace (in the region)."

At the same time, Congress MPs from Telangana region told Mukherjee: "You gave us a very good gift. Dand don't take it back."

Meanwhile, both sides said the party in the state was divided only over this issue but united on all other matters.

"We even didn't press for disciplinary action against Jaganmohan (Reddy)," said M. Jagannath, an MP from Telangana region, referring to the son of the late chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy who created a stir in the Lok Sabha Tuesday by siding with Telugu Desam Party MPs when they were protesting against Telangana's formation.(IANS)