A confused Congress yet again decided to delay any decision on the vexed issue of creating a separate Telangana state by carving out Andhra was with the party announcing that a final call in the matter will be taken by the working committee of the party.
A two-hour-long meeting of the Congress core group headed by Sonia Gandhi with prime minister Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi by her side deliberated deeply on the matter. The meeting also saw Andhra chief minister Kirankumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and deputy chief minister Damodar Rajanarasimha giving a presentation on the Telangana issue. Only Friday, party general secretary Digvijay Singh had maintained that a decision cannot be postponed "anymore".
After the meeting, Singh merely said the CWC will take a decision. He did not specify when the meeting of the apex policy making body of the party is being called. “The Congress has held widest consultations with all political parties, with all leaders and finally the core group has now met…..Now the party shall call the CWC and will take a decision", Singh, who is in charge of party affairs in Andhra, told reporters.
While the chief minister, who is from the Rayalseema region, refused to meet reporters after the core group meeting, the deputy chief minister, who hails from Telangana, struck an optimistic note. Andhra is divided on regional lines on the issue. "I am an optimist", Rajnarasimha said adding "any major decision of the party is taken by the CWC and that is the standard position of the party. We are optimistic. We are hopeful. Ultimately any decision is taken by the party. We expect a decision very soon", the deputy chief minister said but steered clear of
questions on the essence of deliberations at the core group.
