New Delhi: In a U-turn on Thursday, the UPA government withdrew the proposal of Rayala Telangana state and stuck to Telangana with 10 districts, latest reports said.
NDTV, quoting sources, reported that the government took the decision fearing protests from senior Congress leaders and other political parties. However, the Cabinet, which is supposed to meet at Thursday evening, will take a final call.
A massive bandh today ensured a total shutdown of the entire Telangana region. The bandh was called by politician K Chandrasekhara Rao to reject a plan to add two districts from Rayalaseema to the new state to create "Rayala-Telangana".
The bill that sanctions the new state and will have to be cleared by Parliament will also revert to the original Telangana plan. The BJP had said it would support the bill only if Telangana state has its 10 organic districts.
Rayala-Telangana envisages adding Anantapur and Kurnool districts to the proposed state of Telangana. The idea was suggested by some Congress leaders as a way to address problems like water sharing that are involved in the division of Andhra Pradesh.
