UPA delays Telangana call

Unable to firm up its stand on the Telagana issue, the UPA government appears to be slipping on its one-month deadline that ends on January 28.

Unable to firm up its stand on the Telagana issue, the UPA government appears to be slipping on its one-month deadline that ends on January 28.

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Congress general secretary and union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad indicated this after a meeting with party president Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders.

“It is a complicated issue. I don’t think one month (deadline) should be taken so literally. When one says tomorrow, it does not mean tomorrow morning. When one says a week, sometimes it is two weeks,” said Azad.

The indications sugget that the Congress might buy more time to resolve the issue.

After an all-party meeting on December 28, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde had stated that the Centre would take a decision on the Telangana issue within a month.

But Azad declined to set any deadline. “The Congress high command is making serious efforts so as to resolve the issue as early as possible… We are determined to find a solution,” he said.

Azad said the Congress leadership has been too busy with its three-day Jaipur conclave and did not much time to deliberate on the issue.

Hectic consultations have been going on the issue over the past few days. Two separate delegations from Telangana and Seemandhra met PM Manmohan Singh and other central leaders, articulating their views on the issue.

Another delegation of five ministers and 18 MLAs from Telangana region met Shinde separately on Tuesday and told him that nothing short of a separate state would be acceptable to them.

However, no delegation got any assurance from the Congress leadership.