New Delhi, December 03: Despite the Telangana MPs paralysing the winter session of parliament, they are unlikely to hear a word on the T issue from the UPA government. This was indicated by AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday at a function to launch the DAVP Calendar, 2012, held at the residence of Information & Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.
Talking to media persons, Azad ruled out any decision on Telangana during the parliament session. He said that even the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Session was on and any decision either way would have its repercussions.
According to party sources, the Mini Congress Core Group headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has submitted its report to Sonia Gandhi a month ago. In the report, the pros and cons on the formation of Telangana had been listed out by the members, without giving their own views on the issue. It is now for the Congress president to take the call on the issue.
It is reliably learnt that with the UPA government burning its sfingers already on the issue of allowing FDI in the multi-brand retail, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is in no mood to take the decision in haste on the Telangana issue.
The decision on Telangana can, therefore, be expected only in the beginning of next year, 2012, as the Congress is expected to give its view to Union Home Minister P Chidambaram by the end of this year. The winter session will conclude on December 22.
It may be recalled that Chidambaram had stated on Wednesday that the government was yet to get a response from four political parties on their view on the formation of a separate State of Telangana. These four parties are – Congress, YSR Congress, MIM and TDP.
A senior leader confided that given the complex situation, the Mini Congress Core Group was reluctant to take a major decision on its own. While the panel would have preferred to maintain status-quo, given the restlessness of the MPs from both sides, they have listed out the advantages and disadvantages of carving out the separate state of Telangana and rejecting it straightaway.
Either way, the Congress would be the loser, politically. If it would give a nod for Telangana, those for United Andhra Pradesh would be annoyed and vice-versa. Facing a piquant situation in the state, where Jaganmohan Reddy has revolted and is threatening to occupy the Congress political space, the party satraps are wary of taking a bold decision and go for yet another gamble, especially at this juncture.
The Congress president is, therefore, buying her time and will take her own decision, whenever she feels that the time has arisen.
Sources stated that the party leaders are in fact keen that they should decide either way on the Telangana issue as Assembly elections to the State are still two years away, slated for 2014. They would require at least this much time to douse the fire, after taking a hard decision, which is bound to affect one or the other section of the state.
–Agencies