The home minister also denied any rift with the external affairs ministry on tightening visa rules.
Feeling the Telangana heat, as he is blamed for a flip-flop, home minister P Chidambaram tried to set the record straight on Thursday by saying his statements on the issue were in accordance with the stand taken by Andhra Pradesh political parties, which first supported granting statehood to the region only to backtrack later.
Referring to the two statements he made on December 9 and 23 on a separate Telangana state, he said the allegation of flip-flop was wrong.
About the meeting of the eight registered political parties from Andhra, convened by the Centre on January 5 to discuss Telangana, Chidambaram said, “The sole purpose of the meeting is to discuss the mechanism and road map for further consultations on the issue. It is for the political parties to take the initiative in this direction.”
Andhra CM Rosaiah would also attend the meeting, while other groups and parties would be involved later. Regarding a timeframe for resolving the issue, he this would be addressed in consultation with the political parties. He parried a question on the Congress’ view on creation of smaller states. “Congress has a view on Telangana but no standard view on smaller states,” Chidu said.
Visa power restored
The home minister also denied any rift with the external affairs ministry on tightening visa rules. A small number of tourists made India a hub and visited neighbouring countries on the same trip. In such cases, Chidu said, visa authorities would relax the 60-day period and permit up to three entries to India. “[External affairs minister] SM Krishna and I spoke before introducing the changes in visa rules. We share the same views,” he said.
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