Centre gears up for Telangana talks, panel

The Centre will roll out its Telangana strategy in a day or two. It has begun to put in place a “mechanism’’ to tackle the statehood issue that has virtually brought Andhra Pradesh to a standstill.

The Centre will roll out its Telangana strategy in a day or two.

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It has begun to put in place a “mechanism’’ to tackle the statehood issue that has virtually brought Andhra Pradesh to a standstill.

The Centre may begin “consultations” with political parties both at the national and state levels from Wednesday.

In a proactive sign on the issue, Andhra Chief Minister K. Rosaiah could reach out to the pro and anti-Telangana groups on Wednesday.

The Congress core group, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, met on Tuesday to firm up the government’s response to the situation in Andhra Pradesh.

Shortly thereafter, there was a positive signal in Hyderabad, when Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K. Chandrashekhara Rao said he was ready for talks on a separate state, though he was against any committee.

The “mechanism” the Centre might set up could either comprise a group of ministers or a panel that includes experts and ministers.

In UPA-I, Pranab Mukherjee had led the subcommittee for evolving a consensus on Telangana.

Will it be Mukherjee again or A.K Antony if the panel takes shape? And what would be its time frame?

Earlier, 13 Andhra ministers from the Telangana region had refused to take back their resignations unless the Centre spelt out a time frame for a separate state.

Even as protests continued in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday, Congress ministers from Telangana said they would keep away from the state cabinet meets until the Centre comes out with a positive statement on the issue.

Meanwhile, Vilas Muttemwar, a former minister, wrote to Gandhi demanding a separate Vidarbha from Maharashtra.