Now clamour for Hyderabad as new state

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Hyderabad: Ministers and other public representatives belonging to Greater Hyderabad Metropolitan Area are vehemently opposing Union Territory status for Hyderabad after bifurcation of the state and are demanding that Hyderabad should be declared as a separate state if it is not to be part of Telangana state.
City ministers Danam Nagender and Mukesh Gowd said that they have had a series of meetings and consultations with all the city legislators and MPs over Hyderabad’s status. There is unanimity to keep Hyderabad city as a separate state in case the Central government for any reason is not going to keep it in Telangana state, they said.
Interestingly, the two ministers were not part of the Telangana contingent that left for Delhi on Monday to meet the A.K. Antony committee.
They said they have started consulting all the legislators belonging to the Congress, BJP and Majlis, including the latter’s president, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, ever since the Congress Working Committee took the decision to bifurcate the State keeping Hyderabad as the joint capital.
Ministers want local governance
City ministers Danam Nagender and Mukesh Goud, who are against Hyderabad being made a Union Territory, said they want the democratic system of having local governance with MPs, MLAs and corporators to continue.
Nagender said it is still not clear how Hyderabad will function as a joint capital, and whether it will remain in Telangana or under a special authority. “We demand clarity on this. All city legislators and ministers will seek a separate audience with the Antony Committee to know the status of Hyderabad,” he said.
He warned that declaring Hyderabad a UT is out of question. “If that is done, there will be unrest in Hyderabad and mass protests will erupt against the decision,” he said.
Echoing his colleague’s opinion, marketing minister Mukesh Goud told this correspondent, “We have been keeping a low profile ever since the CWC announced its decision on July 30, but we have been holding consultations with important political functionaries in Hyderabad, including Talasani Srinivasa Yadav (Telugu Desam), G. Kishen Reddy (BJP president) and Asaduddin Owaisi (Majlis). We are saying in one voice that Hyderabad should not be declared a Union Territory. It will make our presence negligible here. We have decided to meet the Antony Committee separately regarding this.”
He said their efforts to see Hyderabad is not declared a Union Territory should not be misunderstood by Telangana people as an attempt to stall the formation of the state. But “we cannot compromise on public interests any more; that is final,” Goud said.
Secunderabad Congress MP Anjan Kumar Yadav was also adamant that Hyderabad should not be declared a Union Territory and said the Centre must not yield to anybody’s pressure on this.
However, Majlis president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, “At this stage, I cannot offer any comment on what the ministers quoted me as saying. I will have to find out from them and only then can I react.”