Veerappa Moily, Union Law Minister met Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday to discuss about the five-member committee that will work on a mechanism for a separate Telangana state.

 

Sources said the minister, who is Congress in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, informed Gandhi about the views of party MPs about the committee and consulted all sections of people, political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh.

 

The five-member panel will be headed by retired Supreme Court judge B.N. Srikrishna, it was announced on Wednesday. The other members of the committee are vice chancellor of the National Law University Ranbir Singh, senior research fellow of the International Food Policy Research Institute Abusaleh Shariff, former home secretary Vinod Duggal and Ravinder Kaur, professor, department of humanities and social sciences, IIT Delhi.

 

Ahead of the expected announcement of the committee, Congress MPs from Telangana and coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema had met Moily to express their views.

Party MPs from Telangana have been insisting on a time-frame for formation of the new state while its leaders from the other two regions have demanded that the committee should not have the formation of Telangana on its agenda.

Party sources said Moily had asked party leaders from Telangana to dissociate themselves from the joint action committee and not to resort to any agitation.

They said that party leaders from Telangana have so far been muted in their reaction to the formation of committee.

"The terms of reference are being drafted and will be finalised in consultation with the chairman and announced shortly," said a statement from the home ministry.