TDP for all-party meet to review J&K situation

TDP for all-party meet to review J&K situation
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

HYDERABAD, FEB 19: Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party on Sunday demanded that the Centre convene an all-party meeting to review the situation in Kashmir before extending the unilateral ceasefire beyond Feb 23.

The TDPP which met here under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu discussed Kashmir situation and felt that the Vajpayee government's move to declare ceasefire in the last three months had not evoked the desired results from the militants.

At the same time, the party noted with concern the different voices being heard from within the BJP, leave alone the NDA over the extension of ceasefire in Kashmir. Naidu is learnt to have cited the objections raised by BJP president Bangaru Laxaman to the ceasefire extension.

Briefing mediapersons later, TDPP leader K Yerran Naidu said: "Killings have not been stopped, militant's violence is unabated and there is no improvement in Kashmir. So, the Centre should take all political parties into confidence to review the situation".

However, he made it clear that the TDP was not opposed to further extension ceasefire. "We have no preference on this. First we would like to know the ground situation in Kashmir. Based on the information, we would take a decision later," he explained.

The TDP would "critically" analyse the NDA government's policies during the Parliament budget session which commences on Monday. The party has decided to study the new agriculture policy and new disinvestment policy before formulating a stand on them.

Though the party is not opposed to disinvestment in public sector units, the TDPP felt that the Centre should not act in haste while effecting privatisation of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant as the people in the state had fought for it.

Regarding the electoral laws amendment bill, the TDPP had decided to oppose increasing the number of Lok Sabha constituencies based on the population. "If population is taken as criteria, the states which controlled population growth will lose heavily," Yerran Naidu pointed out.

But, the party would not oppose delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies to bring about uniformity in the size of the electorate. "The delimitation can be taken up within the State without increasing the number of constituencies," Yerran Naidu said.

The party would also oppose the Election Commission's proposal to effect a rotation in the constituencies reserved for SC/STs. "We think that rotation of SC/ST seats can only be taken up after the passage of women's reservation bill. Only then, we can fully know the reservation details," he said.