New Delhi, December 09: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called a meeting with his senior ministerial colleagues to discuss the Telangana issue.
The meeting was called hours after Rajya Sabha saw an uproar over the deteriorating condition of Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader K. Chandrashekar Rao who is on an indefinite fast over the demand for separate Telangana State.
Creating ruckus in the House and forcing its adjournment, BJP members questioned the government’s sensitivity to the issue and warned that if anything untoward happened to Mr. Rao, the Congress will be to blame.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Singh discussed the issue with a few Congress leaders from Andhra Pradesh.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi also asked senior party leaders from the Telangana region of the State to be patient on the separate Statehood demand as she is seized of the matter.
She made the remarks to a group of MPs from the State who called on her to greet on her 64th birthday here.
Ms. Gandhi discussed the issue with senior party colleagues including Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram and Veerappa Moily on Monday.
‘Announcement possible after meeting’
Meanwhile, the Congress on Wednesday indicated that an announcement to solve the Telangana issue was on the cards after a meeting of the Prime Minister with leaders of Andhra Pradesh, including Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
“Please wait. You will find an announcement on the party’s stand,” party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said, adding “the CM is in town for consultation with the PM. He (Rosaiah) is in touch with the TRS chief K. Chadrasekhar Rao“.
She said the party was willing to abide by “any major consensus that emerge“.
Ms. Natarajan said the party leaders are taking the matter with all seriousness.
“We will have to see what emerges from the meeting between the Andhra CM and the PM,” she said, replying to a question about the differences within the Congress on the separate State of Telengana.
She declined to answer if the hunger strike by Mr. Rao was a politics of blackmail and threat and said the government has to consider all points of view.
The spokesperson also avoided a reply if the party was for another States Reorganisation Commission.
—PTI