Azad submits report to Sonia but decision may take more time

New Delhi, Sep 30 (PTI) The Congress Core Committe met
here Friday to deliberate on the ticklish Telangana (in the
southeastern Indian state Andhra Pradesh) issue on
which party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad submitted a report amid
indications that a decision on it will take some more time.
Amid mounting pressure from pro-Telangana groups whose
agitation for a separate state continued for the 18th day
Friday, Congress' top brass, including Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, met here.
This was the first core group meeting attended by Gandhi
after her return earlier this month from the US where she
underwent a surgery for an unspecified ailment.
Party sources said that a decision will take some more
time as more consultations are necessary on the issue.
The meeting took place within hours of All India Congress
Committee (AICC) General Secretary Azad presenting a report to
Gandhi on the Telangana issue prepared after consultations
with party MLAs and MPs from Andhra Pradesh.
Azad was among the special invitees at the Core Group
meeting which has Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home
Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister A K Antony and Ahmed
Patel, political secretary to Gandhi, as members.
Earlier, Chidambaram said that more time was needed. "He
(Azad) has told them (MLAs and MPs) that allow a little time
for the party to take a decision and the government to take a
decision," the Home Minister said.
Congress is caught in a tricky situation in Andhra
Pradesh with the Telangana region observing an indefinite
bandh over the issue of separate statehood, a demand being
opposed by Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions of the state.
Party leaders from Telangana are camping here for the
last few days to press for the demand of separate statehood.
TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, spearheading the
agitation, is expected to meet Mukherjee here Saturday.
Rao and a delegation of Telangana political Joint Action
Committee (JAC) were headed for Delhi to press for an early
decision in favour of the separate statehood for Telangana.
The delegation would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and other important leaders including Leader of Opposition in
Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament), Sushma Swaraj,
Rao told reporters in Hyderabad.
Meanwhile, normal life was disrupted due to the day-long
Hyderabad bandh called by the Telangana Political Joint Action
Committee as part of their ongoing agitation for a separate
state.
Shops, business establishments were closed at many places
in the city. Schools and other education institutions have
already declared holidays for the Dusshera festival.
With pro-Telangana employees of Andhra Pradesh State Road
Transport Corporation (APSRTC) already participating in the
'Sakala Janula Samme'(strike by all sections of people), RTC
buses remained off the roads.
The Andhra Pradesh Government announced that it will not
pay salaries to employees and teachers from Telangana region
who have been taking part in the strike for the past 18 days.
The Government had constituted a high-level Committee
headed by former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna to go into
the issue.
The Congress high command had in July asked Azad to hold
consultations with leaders from Telangana, Rayalaseema and
coastal Andhra regions on the issue and elicit their views.
Azad has been receiving delegations of ministers, MPs and
MLAs from all the three regions since July and concluded the
process on Wednesday.
During the interactions, the leaders, who are divided
deeply on regional lines, had stuck to their known stands.
While Telangana MPs and MLAs have resigned from their
posts demanding that the Centre and the Congress immediately
announce the formation of a separate state, their counterparts
from the other two regions have opposed any move to bifurcate
Andhra Pradesh.
Asked about the Telangana issue, Chidambaram said four
political parties of Andhra Pradesh have not taken their
decision on the issue and in the top of the list was the
Congress party.
"TDP and MIM are waiting to see what Congress party's
decision will be. The other party the YSR Congress has not
indicated its mind either.