Telangana Congress leaders discuss roadmap

With the Congress leadership intensifying its efforts to find an early solution to the Telangana tangle, party leaders from the region Sunday met here to chalk out their future course of action.

The meeting discussed the roadmap which Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha would be submitting to the central leadership.

The meeting held at the deputy chief minister's residence was attended by state ministers, members of parliement and the state legislature from the region.

Congress general secretary and in charge of party affairs in the state Digvijaya Singh last Monday said that a decision on Telangana was in the final stage.

He asked Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana to submit a roadmap on the strategy to be adopted by the party and the government if the decision is taken either way.

Party leaders from Telangana hope that Congress core committee would hold a crucial meeting on July 12. A decision is likely to be announced on July 17.

Warangal MP S. Rajaiah said formation of Telangana with 10 districts including Hyderabad was their only goal. He said formation of Rayala-Telangana (comprising Rayalseema and Telangana regions) was not being considered by the leadership.

State minister G. Saraiah said another meeting would be held in a couple of days, which will also be attended by experts and intellectuals. Whenever the central leadership calls, the deputy chief minister will submit his report, he said.

MP from Karimnagar, Ponnam Prabhakar said there are indications that separate Telangana state will be formed.

Another Congress leader, Mallu Ravi said the party would soon take a decision on the issue. He recalled that 42 legislators of the party had submitted a memorandum to the party leadership in 2000, seeking separate state.

He denied that the Congress has taken up the issue for political mileage during the coming elections to local bodies.

Union Textiles Minister Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, who hails from coastal Andhra region, said a decision acceptable to people of all regions would be taken soon. He told reporters in Vijayawada that he had conveyed his views to the party leadership.