Next all-party meet on Telangana soon: Chidambaram

The much-awaited meeting of eight political parties of Andhra Pradesh could not be held so far due to his various engagements in the last one month, including a visit to Davos to attend the World Economic Forum meeting and the Republic Day, he said.

"I intend to consult my senior colleagues and fix a date. We will fix a date in the next few days," he said at a press conference in New Delhi.

Chidambaram said the meeting would give him an opportunity to hear the final views of the political parties after making available to them the full report of the Srikrishna Committee on the Telangana issue.

"It is necessary. When I said I will call the next meeting, they (the political parties who attended the January six meeting) said yes, please call another meeting. Next meeting is necessary for them to give me their final views," he said.

Asked whether all eight parties would attend the meeting as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Bharatiya Janata Party and Telugu Desam Party did not attend the January six meeting, the home minister said, "I will invite all eight

parties. I think you should advice all eight parties to attend the next meeting".

On whether a final decision on the Telangana issue would be taken in the next meeting, he said, "I don't know if that may be decided in the next meeting."

Chidambaram also dismissed suggestions that there was any delay in holding the meeting. "There is no reason for delay. Please remember that we had Republic Day and I was away and now I am back. Therefore no delay," he said.

The home minister avoided a question whether there is any time-frame to decide the Telangana issue.  Though the Srikrishna Committee gave six options to find a solution to the Telangana issue, the panel itself rejected the first four options suggested by it as "non-practicable". So, the next meeting is expected to mainly concentrate on the two key recommendations -- keeping Andhra Pradesh united with Constitutional and Statutory measures for empowerment of the Telangana region as it "is the best way forward," and creating a separate state which can be the "second best" option to tackle the statehood demand.

The committee itself found that the other four options -- maintaining status quo, bifurcating the state into Seemandhra and Telangana with Hyderabad as Union Territory and the states having their own capitals, bifurcation into Rayala-Telangana and coastal Andhra regions with Hyderabad as part of Rayala-Telangana and bifurcation into Seemandhra and Telangana with enlarged Hyderabad metropolis as a separate Union Territory -- made by it are not practicable.