Congress top brass back to Telangana
HYDERABAD: Following the decision of two of its MPs to join TRS, Congress high command, which has kept the Telangana issue on the back burner, appears to have decided to take a fresh look at it.
With MPs Manda Jagannadham and G Vivekananda, along with former PCC chief K Kesava Rao, set to join the separatist TRS on Sunday, the core committee of the Congress party, headed by AICC supremo Sonia Gandhi, held an emergency meeting on Saturday and discussed three key issues--Telangana, food security bill and Maoist violence.
According to sources, during the three-hour-long meeting at the residence of prime minister Manmohan Singh, Congress top brass discussed the Telangana issue for about two hours.
Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi, Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, defence minister AK Antony, Sonia's political secretary Ahmed Patel and AICC state affairs incharge Ghulam Nabi Azad took part in the meeting. They are learnt to have weighed the pros and cons of various options before them to resolve the T-tangle.
Sources said, Azad explained to the committee the developments in the state on Telangana front, like the decision of two MPs deciding to join the TRS.
However, the core group did not take any decision on the issue and is said to have decided to continue the discussion on Monday, when the coordination committee of the UPA is slated to meet.
Unusual move: In an unusual move, an AICC functionary called some reporters in Delhi soon after the meeting and told them that the party leadership would give clarity on Telangana soon after the budget session of the state Assembly. It is common for Congress leaders to leak the details of the core group meeting to the media.
The Congress high command is also said to be planning to hold another all-party meet in Delhi on Telangana after the budget session to take a final call on the issue.
Sources said a decision is likely only after the ensuing polls to local bodies as chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is keen on conducting the polls as per the proposed schedule.
News Posted: 3 June, 2013
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