The Congress Working Committee (CWC) Tuesday urged the government to carve out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, with Hyderabad as the common capital for 10 years.
The CWC, the highest decision making body of the Congress, passed a resolution after the United Progressive Alliance's co-ordination committee endorsed statehood for Telangana earlier in the day.
Congress spokesman Ajay Maken said the CWC meeting was presided over by party president Sonia Gandhi and attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party vice president Rahul Gandhi among others.
"It is resolved to request the central government to take steps to form a separate state of Telangana," Maken said, reading from the resolution.
Hyderabad would be the common capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for 10 years, he said.
The CWC decision followed protracted discussions in the party following divisions between its leaders in Andhra Pradesh favouring statehood to Telangana and those opposed to it.
