Union Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who is the chairman of the sub-committee set up to look into the demand for the formation of Telangana state on Sunday said the sub-committee can't set a deadline for giving the final report on statehood for Telangana.

Addressing a press conference on Sunday at Rajiv Nagar in Hyderabad, Mukherjee blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party for the delay.

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"We had invited major political parties to give their views on this issue. We have received replies from all of them barring the BJP, which was the most vocal about the matter. While some parties have favoured carving out a new state of Telangana, the others have opposed it," he said.

The defence minister said Telangana Rashtriya Samiti chief K Chandershekhar Rao, who has given two months' notice to the United Progressive Alliance government to take a decision, should understand that such matters are not resolved in such short time.