Even as the Congress is engaged in taking a call on carving out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, a party leader involved in the exercise said Saturday that it would take some time for the new state to become a reality.
The decision is, however, likely to be taken before the monsoon session of parliament, the Congress leader said, adding that a few more meetings were required, involving consultations with other leaders.
The Congress leader made it clear that the delay on account of more consultations would be "slight".
A meeting of the Congress core group comprising the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was held Friday to discuss the issue of the separate state of Telangana.
However, that meeting could not come to a decision on the formation of a separate state.
The entire exercise is also being viewed in the context of general elections next year.