Union minister for health and Congress in-charge for Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad was in consultations with senior Congress leaders including political secretary to party president Ahmed Patel, finance minister and chief crisis manager Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister AK Antony on Saturday evening.
Azad appealed to the media, especially from Andhra Pradesh, to report facts and avoid speculation. He said it will not be possible to announce with regard to Telangana in a hurry and there is need for more consultations. He said the submission of a report he had prepared to the party was part of the process and that a new round of consultations is necessary.
Home Minister P Chidambaram told reporters on Friday that four of the political parties, including the Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Majlis Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (MIM) and YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s breakaway group, have not yet expressed their views on the Telangana issue.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders and other representatives from the region are in Delhi to meet with national leaders and press home the point.
Congress leaders say that they are concerned over the developments in Telangana in the last few weeks where daily life has been stalled because of the general strike but they will not be able to take a decision without looking at all the aspects. They feel that a crucial decision like carving a new state cannot be done without weighing all the options and consequences.
While Telangana agitators are growing impatient by the day and they see the UPA government and the Congress leaders indulging in delay tactics, Congress leaders from Telangana want the party and the government to adhere to a timeframe for the formation of Telangana.
After the internal consultations within the Congress and the UPA government, there will have to be consultations among all the parties at the state level and then at the national level.
It is however clear that the Congress is now focusing on Telangana after ending the crisis arising from the tiff between Mukherjee and Chidambaram.
Party president Sonia Gandhi had apparently told Mukherjee that there is a need to turn to issues like Telangana and that the party and the government cannot afford internal strife like the one between two stalwarts like him and Chidambaram.
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