New Delhi/Hyderabad: Suspense continues over the future of Andhra Pradesh as the Congress core group meeting ended yesterday without a decision on statehood to the Telangana region.
The core group, which met at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s official residence at 7, Race Course Road, discussed the issue but did not take any decision.
“The consultation process is over. Now you should await the decision of the party and the UPA government,” was all Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told waiting reporters after the meeting.
It was also not clear when the Congress Working Committee (CWC) would meet to take a final call on the issue.
After a day of hectic activity and intense speculation, which kept the state on the edge, the Congress core group meeting came out with nothing. Digvijay Singh, however, added a new dimension by stating that the UPA government will take a decision.
Digvijay Singh, who is in charge of party affairs in the state, said in the afternoon that the process of consultation was over and the time had come for a decision.
He was talking to reporters after holding separate meetings with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana.
Digvijaya Singh’s predecessor Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had dealt with party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, was also present at the meetings.
The two central leaders held detailed discussions with the three state leaders who rushed to the national capital on summons from the party’s central leadership.
The three state leaders had submitted their reports to the Congress core group earlier this month. The leadership is believed to have summoned them again to get certain issues clarified.
Earlier in the day, Congress leaders from Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra regions) called on the chief minister and urged him to convey to the leadership their strong opposition to the state’s division, party sources said.
Seemandhra leaders, who made a beeline to the national capital in a last-ditch attempt to stall a possible decision to carve out Telangana state, held a meeting to chalk out their strategy. The meeting was attended by state and central ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra.
S Sailajanth, the state minister heading the group opposed to the state’s division, told reporters after the meeting that they were confident the state would remain united.
IANS
