Telangana: Azad to file report in two days

AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said Wednesday that he would submit a report within two days to party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minsiter Manmohan Singh on what stand the Centre should take on the Telangana issue. He also said there is a need for wider consultations at the national level. He implied that the issue had to be placed before the UPA partners.

Speaking to mediapersons in Delhi after conferring with a delegation of Telagnana Congress Steering Committee members, Azad said he was keen that a decision on Telangana be announced at the earliest but would not say when. He said the decision was not in his hands.

The report that he would present would be based on the consultations he has had with leaders from both Seemandhra and Telangana regions. “I held 12-13 meetings with leaders of both regions. The last meeting was held today,” he said.

The Congress general secretary said he was aware that the Sakala Janula Samme has paralysed life in Telangana and made an appeal to the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) to call it off. He also asked the chief minister to initiate a dialogue with the strikers.

After a three-hour meeting with Azad, Steering Committee chairman K Keshava Rao said Telangana Congress leaders would stay put in Delhi till such a time as Azad submits his report to the party high command.

In the meeting, the delegation told Azad in clear terms that any delay in making an announcement on the Telangana issue would only erode the base of the Congress in the region and help the TRS gain an electoral advantage. They also briefed him about the impact of the Sakala Janula Samme on the state administration and how chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy was trying to undermine the agitation. One member of the steering committee reportedly accused the chief minister of using the police force to eliminate an employees union leader.

Azad, according to the Steering Committee leaders, asked them not bring pressure on the party leadership on the issue since it is seized of the matter. He wanted them to wait patiently since the party was finalising its stand.