Congress core group to meet tomorrow over Telengana issue

Hyderabad: The outcome of the crucial meeting of Congress Core Group on Friday on the vexed Telangana issue is being awaited with bated breath in Andhra Pradesh. Congress leaders from Telangana and non-Telangana regions camped in Delhi on Thursday to drum up support for their cause with the party high command. [caption id=“attachment_949593” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image for representation only. AFP[/caption] Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, state Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana and Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha, who have been tasked with preparing a roadmap leading to the 2014 elections, left for the national capital today. State ministers from Telangana and non-Telangana regions too camped in Delhi and met AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who is in-charge of party affairs in AP, to stress upon the separate statehood demand and united Andhra Pradesh cause respectively. “We told him (Singh) that there is no alternative to united Andhra Pradesh, which is in the interest of weaker sections and others as well,” state Primary Education Minister S Sailajanath told reporters in Delhi. Those from Telangana hoped that the high command would take a decision in favour of a separate state and that their non-Telangana counterparts should not try to scuttle it. Meanwhile, the Students’ Joint Action Committee for ‘Samaikyandhra’ (united Andhra Pradesh) has called for a bandh tomorrow. Students, lawyers and other sections organised rallies and other forms of protest at several places in the region today to highlight the united Andhra Pradesh cause. A crucial meeting of the Congress Core Group tomorrow will discuss the Telangana issue with “both options open” as a decision “cannot be postponed anymore”, Digvijay Singh said early today. Almost indicating that a significant decision is expected to be taken at the meeting, Singh told PTI that while the government would consult UPA partners on the issue, it would also need to take Opposition parties on board as the decision could require amendments to the Constitution. PTI