PM, Sonia pitched for Telangana

The top Congress leadership, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Tuesday strongly pitched for the creation of Telangana.

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi did not speak at the specially convened meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) but had given his approval to the idea earlier, said party sources.

According to the sources, the prime minister said the decision "was required for the development of the entire Andhra Pradesh region".

Sonia Gandhi, who opened the discussion, gave the historical perspective behind the issue, saying the election manifesto of the Congress in the 2004 Andhra Pradesh elections referred to the demand as well the common minimum programme of the United Progressive Alliance-I in 2004.

She said it was the long standing demand of large sections of the people of Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh for a separate state in order to better fulfill their social, economic, political and other aspirations.

Congress general secretary and party in charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh moved the resolution which was then unanimouly passed by the CWC, the party's highest decision making body.