Group of ministers takes Rayala-Telangana turn, to discuss UT status for Hyderabad today

NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: The Group of Ministers (GoM) on Tuesday opened a can of worms by reworking their report to include Rayala-Telangana and kept the option open on granting Union Territory status for Hyderabad.
After a one-and-a-half-hour meeting, the GoM, which met at Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde’s North Block office, decided to meet again at 8pm on Wednesday to take a final view on its recommendations.Shinde had announced last week that the report has been finalized and would be placed before the Union cabinet on Tuesday. However, a sudden awakening on Rayala-Telangana has brought out the utter confusion in the Congress ranks as to how to go ahead with the bifurcation process.
According to sources, the GoM at its meeting on Tuesday was unanimous as far as the Rayala-Telangana is concerned. However, the committee could not clinch the issue of according UT status for Hyderabad and continuing with Article 371(D) in both the successive states. The GoM’s indecision on Hyderabad was brought about by last-minute lobbying by Seemandhra ministers Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, MM Pallam Raju and J D Seelam, who called on the GoM members after their meeting and pleaded for according UT status for Hyderabad at least till the period it serves as the common capital of the two states. “In response, Shinde assured them that he would take their demand on UT status for Hyderabad to party president Sonia Gandhi and then take a final view. The acceptance of the Seemandhra ministers’ plea on UT status for the joint capital is very much on the cards,” said sources.
The GoM meeting, chaired by Shinde, was attended by Union ministers P Chidambaram, AK Antony, Jairam Ramesh, M Veerappa Moily, V Narayana Swamy and Ghulam Nabi Azad. Earlier, emerging from the GoM meeting, Azad said Tuesday’s meeting was not the last one as was widely expected. “The GoM will meet for another round on Wednesday and complete its work,” he said.
After the meeting, Shinde and Jairam Ramesh continued their discussions with senior officials of the home ministry. According to sources, the GoM report including the Rayala-Telangana proposal and Seemandhra leaders plea for UT status for Hyderabad will be extensively discussed on Wednesday before being placed for the consideration of Union cabinet on Thursday.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, Seemandhra ministers Chiranjeevi and Pallam Raju had independently called on GoM members Shinde and Ramesh and raised the issue of according UT status for Hyderabad. According to sources, the two Seemandhra leaders told the ministers that Hyderabad should be made UT at least till the time it serves as the joint capital, which was a climb down from their earlier demand that the state capital should be a permanent UT.
Later on Tuesday evening, Pallam Raju, Kavuri and Seelam reiterated the same request with the GoM members and appeared to have extracted the concession that their plea would be placed before Sonia for consideration. On Wednesday, the GoM is slated to discuss the other unfinished aspects of the report including the issue of Article 371 (D).