Hyderabad:

Almost a week after the Centre gave its nod to the creation of Telangana as a separate state and initiated the proceedings for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, its Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy is still opposed to the division of the southern state.

Reports, Tuesday, said that the Chief Minister Reddy has written a letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi urging her to keep the state united.

The letter, which urges the Congress president to "keep the state of Andhra Pradesh united," has been signed by the state Congress chief and top leaders from the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema region, which are opposed to carving out Telangana.

Reddy has also requested the Congress chief to halt the process of creating Telangana until a two-member committee formed by the party addresses the concerns of coastal and Rayalaseema regions and submits its report.

Reddy's letter to the party president comes in the backdrop of severe protests by anti-Telangana supporters in the coastal and Rayalaseema regions and a series of resignations from several party MLAs, MPs opposed to the Centre's Telangana move.

Interestingly, the Congress has 33 MPs from Andhra Pradesh, 19 of them from the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

Now anti-Telangana leaders in the Congress seem to have taken a cue from the YSR Congress's newly aggressive stand against bifurcation.

Kiran Reddy's letter to Sonia Gandhi is also significant in view of an announcement from the YSR Congress that it would fight the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The party had so far left its stand on the Telangana issue ambiguous, saying it is up to the Central government to take a decision.

YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy's sister Sharmila, who just completed a 3100-kilometre padyatra in Andhra Pradesh, said in an interview that Congress has done injustice to Seemandhra for narrow political gains.

source:http://zeenews.india.com