Give up agitation: Cong appeals to people of Seemandhra

With protests in Seemandhra against the Centre's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, the Congress on Tuesday appealed to people in the region to give up their agitation so that a solution that benefits both sides could be arrived at.

"The Congress appeals to the people of Seemandhra to give up their agitation so that a healthy dialogue process can move forward and a solution that will benefit both the sides is arrived at", party General Secretary Digvijay Singh said in a statement.

Singh is in charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh. Maintaining that the party was deeply concerned over the agitation in Seemandhra, Singh said the people of the region are being put to inconvenience because of disruption in power supply and strike by non-gazetted government employees.

"The Congress party assures the people of Seemandhra that it remains fully committed to addressing all their concerns, particularly with respect to safeguarding interests of people living and working in Telengana, the concerns with regard to education and employment opportunities in Hyderabad for their youth, sharing of river waters and power issue etc," he said.

Singh's statement was on the lines of one made by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Monday night, close on the heels of five Union Ministers of Seemandhra region meeting the prime minister requesting him to accept their resignations over the issue of creation of Telangana.

Singh said the Group of Ministers constituted by the government to go into the details of the new state formation, will hold detailed consultations with all stakeholders on these and other sensitive issues.

Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh continue to simmer with protests against the Union Cabinet's October 3 decision to carve out a new state of Telangana.