T not round the corner,says Azad - It May Be Weeks Or Even Months Before Congress Takes Stand On The Issue

New Delhi: After a three-day intra-party consultations on the demand for statehood for Telangana,the Congress on Monday reiterated that it was not easy to arrive at a quick decision on the issue.After a mini-core committee of the party met state Congress leaders Chiranjeevi and Renuka Chowdhary, AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media here: With Mondays consultations,the intraparty consultation to elicit the opinion of leaders from the various regions is over.The process would now begin with national leaders as well. The Telangana issue is a serious one.It is not that easy to arrive at a decision. There is a further need to take the opinion of other parties and all stake-holders on the issue in order to arrive at a solution. But Azad did not elaborate exactly when the next round of consultations would begin and as to which are the other parties whose opinion would be taken.

Apart from the Congress,TDP,YSR Congress and MIM are still to state their official position on the contentious issue.Going by the tone and tenor of Azads remarks, it is clear that it may be weeks or even months before the Congress itself comes out with an official position on the issue, said AICC sources. As part of its strategy,the Congress is extracting a commitment from all the leaders from the state that they should abide by whatever decision the party takes on Telangana. In the consultations on Monday,the mini core-committee comprising Union ministers Pranab Mukherjee, AK Antony, P Chidambaram and Congress chief Sonia Gandhis political secretary Ahmed Patel,apart from Azad,extracted such a commitment from Tirupati MLA Chiranjeevi and former Union minister Renuka Chowdhary,the sources said.
What is interesting is the change in the stand of Chiranjeevi,who favoured status quo till now after initially announcing his erstwhile partys support for the separate state. He is said to have informed the party leaders that he would abide by the decision of the party whatever it might be.Emerging from the meeting, Chiranjeevi told the media that he had explained the prevailing situation in the state and the hardship being faced by the people in the state due to disruption of public transportation and fall in power generation.He said the he had impressed upon the central leaders on the need to take immediate measures to defuse the situation and restore normalcy in the state.

Meanwhile,Kavuri Sambasiva Rao,Eluru MP and an advocate of united Andhra, met Pranab on Sunday and urged Delhi leaders to put an end to the agony of the people of the state by not delaying decision on issue. Meanwhile, Congress MPs from Telangana are scheduled to arrive in the national capital from Hyderabad on Tuesday to meet senior party leaders.The MPs have already threatened to go on a fast-unto-death if there is no decision from party on Telangana in the next couple of days. We are closely watching the Congress high command and expecting a road map in the next two days. Our decision to go on fast still holds. Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki told TOI in Hyderabad.
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(source-toi)