Senior minister Pallam Raju opposes Telangana

Senior Congress leader and Union Minister Pallam Raju has voiced his opposition over carving a separate Telangana state from Andhra Pradesh and said it was becoming apparent there was no unanimity among MPs and MLAs in the state.

After a meeting with Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily along with some MPs from Andhra and Rayalseema regions, Raju, the Minister of State for Defence, said he hoped that Andhra Pradesh will remain united. Moily is the AICC general secretary in-charge of AP affairs.

"Our hope is that Andhra remains united and we think that the Centre was compelled to make the announcement (to form Telangana). We have strongly expressed our views," he told reporters last night.

"We are seeing how MLAs are resigning across party lines. And similarly MPs from the Andhra region and Rayalseema region have conveyed the wish that Andhra Pradesh is united. So, now it is apparent there is no unanimity," he added.

"It is up to the government to decide on whether to have a relook into the announcement," he said when asked whether the MPs will ask for a relook into the issue.