The Congress has decided to go for "further consultations" on the separate demand for Telengana statehood, even as it is running out of time, with the crisis in Andhra Pradesh reaching alarming proportions. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who chaired a high-level meeting with senior Congress leaders on Saturday, said, "We need further consultations and time to address the Telangana issue." The meeting came close on the heels of the core committee meeting on Friday evening, which discussed the issue in detail but remained indecisive.
A detailed report by Ghulam Nabi Azad, general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, had ascertained the views of stakeholders, but could not come to any conclusion. The report has been submitted to the Congress president Sonia Gandhi
The high-level meeting at North Block on Saturday was attended by Mukherjee, Azad, Congress president's political secretary, Ahmed Patel, and the Defence Minister AK Anthony.
Mukherjee, at the conclusion of the meeting, speaking to the media said, "We are in the process of consultation. We are fully aware of the gravity of the situation and the agitation. We need to have further discussions and need more time."
Mukherjee added, "Yesterday, we discussed it in the Core Group. Today also, some of my (colleagues) discussed it with me. Further consultations would be needed. We are in the process of it."
This even as TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao arrived in the capital to meet prime minister and other leaders to demand an early solution.
Azad, who has for the past two months been holding consultations with all stakeholders, on Saturday said, "It is not an easy decision to be taken. Whatever the decision or resolution, it will take time. We need to take everybody on board. More discussions are needed in this regard with some senior leaders at the national level of some parties and also with some at the state level. This is the progress at the moment."
Azad has met representatives of all three regions - Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana, to ascertain their stand on the issue that has become a festering sore for the Congress. According to sources, the report alludes to the fact that there is no common ground between the two factions. The status of Hyderabad, a bone of contention, has also been discussed in the report and the possibility of conferring it a status like Chandigarh has not been ruled out, but bifurcating Hyderabad, as some have proposed, seems unlikely.
Congress insiders say, after obtaining another round of views from legislators, a meeting of all political parties could be called to discuss if Andhra Pradesh should be divided.
Congress Rajya Sabha member and staunch Telengana state supporter Keshava Rao, who even made common cause with the BJP and addressed a joint press conference with BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad last Sunday, speaking to Business Standard said, "The Congress should act fast, restore its credibility and keep to the promise announced by the home minister of granting statehood to Telengana." Rao rejected any talk of granting Union Territory status to Hyderabad. "There can be no compromise on keeping Hyderabad as our capital", he said.
Already 13 MPs from Andhra Pradesh have submitted their resignations, while MLAs from the region have also resigned in solidarity with the Telengana statehood demand.
