Jagan Mohan meets Akhilesh, gets Samajwadi Party support against Telangana

Lucknow: To drum up support for a united Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress chief Jagan Mohan Reddy met Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday, who promised that Samajwadi Party "will do anything to halt the division".

Both the leaders had a detailed discussion on the issue.

After the meeting, Akhilesh told reporters that SP was "not in favour of division of any state and would do anything for that".

"Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) has always been against the formation of small states. SP is not in favour of division. He (Jagan Mohan) is talking about amendment in Article 3. As we are not in favour of division we will do everything against that," he said.

"I and Jagan Mohan met in the Lok Sabha. Although I left the House later but the relationship will continue for long. Ideology will come and go, but the relationship will never end," he added.

Jagan Mohan said, "I came here to ask Akhilesh bhai to support us on the issue and we have a detailed discussion. We talked about amendment in Article 3 and he was convinced. We are thankful to him."

"If Andhra Pradesh is bifurcated like this, it will set a precedent and in future anybody having adequate number of seats can divide any state on his whims and fancies." Jagan Mohan said that on this issue YSR Congress was seeking support cutting across the party line.

"From BJP to Mamata didi we are requesting everyone to support us. Everybody who respects democracy should come forward," he said.

Jagan Mohan said that this was the first time when a new state was being created without a resolution from the state Assembly.

The Union Cabinet last night approved a bill for the creation of a Telangana state with 10 districts, paving the way for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to give birth to the country's 29th state.