Only consensus can bring T: CM

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Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy clarified on Tuesday that the state could not be divided on political reasons. Reiterating that a political angle for the state’s division was out of the question, the Chief Minister said in a series of interviews to upcountry media organisations that he had been requesting the Central government to announce a decision on Telangana statehood. He added that the Congress high command was trying to bring about consensus on the issue. The Chief Minister said that the high command was aware of what was going on in the state, including who was saying what about a sensitive subject like Telangana.

Stating that he had never misled the party regarding the situation in the state on account of the Telangana agitation, Mr Reddy said that he had not sent any reports either to the leadership or the Central government on the issue. Referring to reports from Delhi that Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao was planning to merge his party with the Congress, Mr Reddy said that it was for the high command to look into that. “Alliances and adjustments with political parties will be decided by the party high command and not at the state level,” he said.

He also criticised some Congress leaders for accusing him of being anti-Telangana and said that Central leaders would look into issues of indiscipline. Referring to the violence on Necklace Road during the Telangana March on September 30, the Chief Minister said that the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) had failed to keep its promise of conducting the march peacefully and that they would be held responsible for the incidents. Mr Reddy said that the state government would not compromise on the law and order situation. The police had already booked cases against those responsible for the attacks on private and public properties and action would be taken against them. He assured Hyderabadis that the state government would not tolerate attempts to tarnish the brand image of the city at any cost.