Deliberations on Telangana gain momentum

Narasimhan's meeting with Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and other ministers come at a time in the midst of speculation that Congress could take a decisive stand on the issue.

The Governor kicked-off a series of meetings yesterday with a 45-minute discussion with Gandhi at her residence, which was described as a "courtesy call".

Though it has been almost a routine for Narasimhan to meet Gandhi whenever he visits Delhi, yesterday's meeting is seen in political circles in the context of reports that a resolution to the Telangana tangle may be around the corner.

The meeting also came three days after Gandhi deliberated the issue with her senior party colleagues and Union Ministers who have been dealing with the issue since 2009 when the Government did a U-turn after promising Telangana.

Today, Narasimhan met Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, also the Congress General Secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, and MoS in PMO V Narayanasamy.

The meetings were described as "courtesy calls" and the Governor did not respond to media queries about the nature of his discussions.

However, sources said the Telangana issue was not discussed at the Congress Core Group meeting today.

The talk in Congress was the party was possibly moving on the issue in the light of the situation caused by the emergence of YSR Congress that has made deep inroads into its base. Speculation gained further credence with TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao camping in the capital for the past few weeks and is believed to have met some Congress leaders.