CPM for urgent decision on Telangana issue

New Delhi: Expressing concern over the situation in Andhra Pradesh following the Telangana agitation, CPI(M) on Saturday asked the government to take an urgent decision on the issue saying there was no need for any more consultation with political parties.

"Procrastination will only worsen the situation. I would urge you to see that a decision is taken on the matter without any further delay," CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"All political parties and various sections of society in Andhra Pradesh had submitted their views to the Sri Krishna Committee. Hence, there is no need for further consultations with political parties," he said.

Maintaining that the Telangana region of the state has been "paralysed" by the agitation over the past three weeks, Karat said it was nine months now since the Committee submitted its report on Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

"We had expected that the Government of India would take a decision on the matter after considering the report," the CPI(M) leader said seeking an urgent decision on the matter.

The CPI(M) has been opposed in principle to the division of states created on a linguistic basis, saying that accentuation of uneven development has given a fillip to demands for separate states like Telangana and Vidarbha based on the argument of backwardness.

The party maintains that while it would fight for the development of backward regions, it would adhere to "the principled position of opposition to the division of linguistic states."