A day after seeking separate statehood for Hyderabad, city ministers Danam Nagender and M Mukesh Goud on Thursday demanded a proposal by the people of Greater Hyderabad on the division of the state.

Danam who is the president of the Greater Hyderabad Congress Committee, is being supported by marketing minister Mukesh Goud. He says, "It is absurd that various interests are pulling the Telangana issue in different directions and forgetting to seek the opinion of the people of the region. Mukesh Goud and I are of the strong opinion that a referendum must be conducted in Greater Hyderabad on the division of the state. Any decision taken without taking the people into confidence would be undemocratic."

Moreover, he said that he had already conveyed his stand to the Congress high command, and requested the party brass including Ghulab Nabi Azad, in-charge of AP affairs, to consider the sentiment of the people of the region before taking the final decision. In fact, he mentioned that he and Mukesh were never against statehood for Telangana and insisted that they would vehemently oppose Hyderabad being made a union territory. He also expressed that Mukesh and he himself  both are not against Telangana, but if any forces are at work to make Hyderabad a union territory or a common capital after the division, then we will oppose it tooth and nail.

(AW:Samrat Biswas)