By Muslim Mirror News,
Hyderabad, July 21: With the Congress all set to accept the long-pending demand for a separate state of Telangana, the matter is slated for discussion at the party’s working committee meeting to be convened before the monsoon session of Parliament commences on August 5. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Thursday said a decision “this way or that way” on the statehood demand will be taken soon. “The (Congress) party is discussing the matter. I cannot disclose details. But a decision will be taken soon – either this way or that way,” “The decision will be taken by higher authority,” he said. Last week, Shinde had said that discussions on Telangana were held in the past and such consultations have been continuing even now.
No official dates for this crucial meeting have been announced so far, but party insiders are mentioning July 28 or 29 as possibilities. Anxious to know the high command’s pulse, a group of senior leaders and MPs from Telangana are camping in New Delhi and lapping up every word being circulated in the higher echelons of the party. The Congress top brass is having consultations with different stakeholders and party leaders to take a final view on the vexed Telangana issue which has divided all the parties in Andhra Pradesh on regional lines.
Congress general secretary DigVijay Singh, who is in charge of the party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, has already submitted his proposal in this regard to Ms. Gandhi as the UPA government weighs options on the demand for a separate Telangana. The coming days will witness hectic consultations as the party has to take a view on the status of Hyderabad. Having delayed a decision on Telangana for over three years, the Congress has to act fast on this issue now as the Lok Sabha and the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections are due in 2014.