PM should make a statement on Telangana before AP visit: BJP

The Andhra Pradesh unit of the BJP today demanded that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should make a statement on the issue of separate statehood for Telangana before his visit to the state scheduled later this month.Ruling party MPs and ministers belonging to Telangana region should mount pressure on the PM who is scheduled to visit state capital here to attend Conference of Parties (CoP-11) on bio-diversity, state party's official spokesperson NVSS Prabhakar told reporters here."If they (Congress MPs and Ministers of the region) are sincere on the issue, they should put pressure on party highcommand as well as the Prime Minister to make a statement before his visit," he said.Also, let ruling party MPs and ministers of Telangana , who have been harping on the issue, oppose the Prime Minister's visit if they are really sincere and committed for the cause of Telangana, Prabhakar dared.The recent statements of Congress party's central leaders including Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and state Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy have clearly indicated that the UPA government is not at all in a mood of carving out of a separate state for Telangana, he said.When asked whether state BJP party would organise any protest demonstrations during the Prime Minister's visit, Prabhakar said the party would hold a meeting soon and decide on it.