Andhra Pradesh BJP on Thursday appealed to prime minister Manmohan Singh to convene an all- party meeting to discuss and resolve the issue of separate statehood for Telangana region, which is witnessing a crippling general strike for over two weeks now.

'Sakar Janula Samme' (general strike) in support of Telangana state entered the 17th day on Thursday. The stir has spread to virtually all departments and is even affecting functioning of private establishments in the region, state BJP spokesperson N V S S Prabhakar told reporters in Hyderabad.

The prime minister should initiate steps to convene an all-party meeting to find a solution of the long-pending issue, he said.

The centre should announce creation of Telangana state before the situation goes out of hand, he maintained.

The Congress-led UPA Government has been wasting time by holding only talks with MLAs and MPs of the region and not announcing concrete steps, the BJP leader said.

The people of Telangana are fed up with the culture of setting up different committees by the centre on the decades- old issue, Prabhakar said.