Centre to hold All-Party Meet on Telangana

The Congress Core Committee has failed to find a solution to resolve the issue of statehood for Telangana region.

The Committee which met here at the residence of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh could not find a formula that could satisfy the leaders of both Telangana and Seemandhra regions. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad attended the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister himself.

However, these leaders could not arrive at a decision to end the impasse in the Telangana region where the general strike has crippled the administration for the last 29 days. Since any decision, favouring or against Telangana could backlash against the party, the Congress Core Committee has decided to play safe by involving other political parties into the issue.

According to sources, the Core Committee has decided to convene an all party meeting to discuss the Telangana issue. The dates for the all party meet would be announced in a day or two. After eliciting the opinion of other political parties on Telangana, the Congress party may announce its own stand by the end of this month.

Earlier, the Congress party has completed the process of consultation with its leaders hailing from Telangana and Seemandhra regions. Other leaders like Chiranjeevi were also consulted on the issue.