Telengana : Core group leaves decision to Congress Working Committee

The Telengana question took centrestage at the Congress high command in New Delhi today with first the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy meeting Congress President Sonia Gandhi and then the Congress core group taking up the issue in the evening. AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh who is incharge of the state speaking to reporters after the meeting today said, “A meeting of the Congress Working Committee will take a final call on the Telangana issue.” Congress Working Committee (CWC) is the higest decision making body of the Congress.   

Sources said Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC Chief Botsa Satyanarayana and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, who were summoned to the meeting, each gave separate presentations on the issue of statehood for Telangana before the core group.

While the CM and the PCC chief have argued for a “united Andhra”, the deputy CM is in favour of bifurcation of the state and creation of a separate Telengana.

There was much drama in the run up to the core group meeting in the evening with speculation rife that the Chief minister had threatened to resign should the Congress high command divide the state. These rumours arose after, the CM had a mere ten minute interaction with Sonia Gandhi. The meeting apparently had to be cut short as the core group had been pre-poned from 5.30 to 4 pm.

The Chief minister’s office in Hyderabad was quick to issue an official statement denying the rumours. “It is absolutely false and baseless. It is malicious in nature. Soniaji is our leader and I have high respect for her. Personally, I have greatest regard for her as a true Congress leader,” the statement issued by the state Information and Public Relations Department quoted Reddy as saying.

While P Chidambaram who is in the US was not present, the core group meet was attended by Digvijay Singh and former state incharge Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Digvijay Singh, had a few days back submitted a report to the high command on his assessment of the demand for and against Telengana.

During the day, the pro- Telengana faction including Union minister Jaipal Reddy and several pro- Telengana MLAs from Andhra met over a luncheon meeting at senior leader V Haumantha Rao’s residence in the capital.

Significantly with the union cabinet and council of ministers there is a clear divide over the contentious issue. While Balram Naik, Jaipal Reddy are demanding the setting up of Telengana assuring the high command that they will manage to secure 15 out of the 17 Lok Sabha seats from the region, the united Andhra camp has minister KC Deo, Pallam Raju and MoS JD Seelam, Purandeshwari, Panabaka Lakshmi, Surya Parakash Reddy.   

 
Sources say that the Congress is in favour of an "early resolution" within a month itself, as the state goes into polls – Assembly and general elections slated for 2014.