Telangana ministers meet prez Mukherjee on early solution to statehood issue

A group of Andhra Pradesh ministers from the Telangana region called on president Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapathi Nilayam, the president's official retreat Bolarum in Secunderabad here on Tuesday. Six ministers, including state home minister Sabita Indra Reddy and major industries minister Geeta Reddy, met Mukherjee on the last day of his eight-day southern sojourn seeking his intervention for immediately carving out a separate state.

Urging Mukherjee to ensure immediate steps for the formation of a Telangana state, they said people of the region had long been demanding a separate statehood and it was time the central government fulfilled their demand. Mukherjee, who headed a committee formed by the UPA government to look into the Telangana issue in 2008, told the ministers that he was aware of the issue. Later, the ministers said the president hoped the issue would be resolved soon.

The ministers called on the president . During his visit, Mukherjee stressed the need for women's safety in the wake of the tragic gang-rape and subsequent death of a 23-year-old woman in Delhi. At an all-party meet in Delhi December 28, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had said the central government would find a solution to Telangana issue in a month.