Tuesday's all-party meeting likely to devise Telangana roadmap - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

The all-party meeting convened by the Government on Tuesday is likely to devise a mechanism and roadmap to resolve the Telangana issue. The meeting is expected to be a stormy one, as deep differences between leaders from Telangana and non-Telangana regions continue to persist. Lat week, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had said the all party meeting "is the first step in consultations on the issue, and will devise a mechanism and a roadmap." Tuesday's meeting is a follow-up to Chidambaram's December 23, 2009 statement in which the Centre promised wide-ranging consultations with political parties on the Telangana issue. Chidambaram is also likely to hold a one-on-one meeting with representatives of all eight recognised parties of the state-the Congress, BJP, TDP, TRS, CPM, CPI, PRP and MIM. The Congress and the Telugu Desam Party are deeply divided along regional lines over the pro and anti Telangana movements. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, who arrived here last night to attend the meeting, made it clear that he will make a strong case for a separate state. Prajarajyam Party (PRP) founder and cine star Chiranjeevi reiterated that he would pitch for a united Andhra Pradesh. Congress, which is in a Catch-22 situation with deep divisions between its partymen from the three regions of the state, has done a delicate act by nominating one person each from Telangana and coastal Andhra regions for the meeting. Huzurnagar MLA N Uttam Kumar Reddy, who hails from Telangana, and senior party MP from Eluru Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, representing coastal Andhra, will be part of the Congress team at the meeting. Chief Minister K Rosaiah is expected to hold discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chidambaram and brief the Centre about the prevailing situation in the state. Chidambaram has already dismissed the charge of a government flip-flop on the Telangana issue, saying the Centre "simply responded to the wishes of the people of Andhra Pradesh".