All-party meet will be most decisive for Telangana: Ponnala

Information Technology Minister Ponnala Laxmaiah on Thursday hoped that the all-party meeting being held in New Delhi on December 28 would be final meeting on the Telangana issue.

Talking to reporters after inspecting the works of Tourism Department's Haritha Hotel at Hanamkonda, Ponnala said that the meeting would be the last in series of efforts made by the Centre to resolve the issue. However, he demanded that the Centre take a decision in favour of granting statehood for the region after the all-party meeting.

When asked whether inviting two representatives from each party would lead to split of opinion on Telangana, the minister said he did not foresee any such possibility. However, he said that the meeting should be turning point to achieve statehood for the region.

Speaking about the Kakatiya Festival, the minister said that it would be celebrated at a grand scale. Besides Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi, several dignitaries would attend the festival. The establishment of Kakatiya International Convention Centre is also likely to be announced during the festival.

Ponnala said that the government has already sanctioned Rs 1 crore for the festival, which would showcase the Kakatiyas' rich cultural heritage. The year-long festival would begin on December 21 to mark 800 years of the historic Ramappa Temple and also 750 years of the coronation of Rani Rudrama Devi of the Kakatiya regime.