Congress for wide talks to settle Telangana impasse

The Congress core group today pushed for wider consultations on the Telangana problem, which has deepened owing to mass resignations of legislators.

The Congress core group on Wednesday pushed for wider consultations on the Telangana problem, which has deepened owing to mass resignations of legislators.

HT Image

The meeting, chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, discussed threadbare all issues that came to the foreground over the past two days.

Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs, was a special invitee at the meeting.

On its part, the Congress favours an all-party meeting for a broader consensus on the topic. The party has decided to send senior central leaders to Andhra Pradesh to take stock of the situation and talk to a cross-section of people there.

During the day, home minister P Chidambaram made it clear that the Centre was not thinking of imposing President's rule in Andhra Pradesh.

"No decision has been taken yet. We are not thinking of President's rule.... we hope the process of consultations will show us the path to reach a conclusion," he said.

Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day, there were pitched battles between the police and students on Osmania University premises as the agitation demanding a separate state spread to other parts of the region.

More than 12 persons including policemen and journalists were injured in the process.

Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLA E Rajender, who has resigned, condemned the police "brutalities".