Telangana: Andhra Pradesh chief minister called to Delhi

Hours after state Governor ESL Narasimhan landed in New Delhi today for a with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow, the Congress high command has summoned Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to the national capital to find a solution to the ongoing crisis over Telangana.

Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana too has been called to New Delhi for a discussion with the party top leadership on the contentious statehood issue.

The governor will meet the prime minister and Union Home Minister P Chidambaram among others and the chief minister too may meet the prime minister and other Union ministers tomorrow, sources said.

Both the governor and the chief minister are expected to brief the central leadership about the current situation in the state in the light of the ongoing agitation for Telangana that has crippled normal life for the last 25 days.

The agitation had often been marred by violence.

The governor is expected to submit a report to the prime minister on the ground situation here, informed sources said.

In Delhi, Congress top brass tonight held hectic consultations on the statehood issue with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee holding separate meetings with the prime minister and Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the issue.

Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is also the Congress General Secretary in-charge of the state, met Mukherjee to discuss the issue.