New Delhi, October 03: With the movement for a separate Telangana intensifying, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday met a delegation of Congress MPs and legislators from the Andhra Pradesh region but did not give any assurance to them. He was later slated to meet Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
During the 30-minute meeting, the Congress delegation told the prime minister that the central government should announce a time-frame for arriving at a decision on the issue, an MP, who was in the delegation, told IANS.
Manmohan Singh told the Congress MPs that his government will make all efforts to find a solution to the long-standing demand.
He said that he would talk to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and place their demands before the Congress core committee.
The delegation is also learnt to have complained against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s hostile stand to the Telangana demand.
The prime minister’s meeting with the Congress MPs took place hours before one with the TRS chief.
The prime minister’s meeting with Rao comes amidst talk in political circles that the Congress is diluting its position on the half-century old dispute and may move towards a solution without losing its political face.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of the Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh, had Friday submitted a detailed report on the volatile situation in the state to Sonia Gandhi.
The report had recommended further consultations on the Telangana issue. That was endorsed by the Congress core group, which met Friday.
—-IANS—-