Feud in Andhra Congress may trip Sonia Gandhi's attempt to solve Telangana tangle

NEW DELHI: With the Telangana bandh entering the 18th day and the Centre failing to intervene to quell trouble, Sonia Gandhi on Friday entered the frame to find a way out of the mess. That the party president may find the forward movement tough was evident when a report on the issue, prepared by Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, pointed to the sharp divisions within the state unit of the Congress and the need for more consultations between the Centre and the major players in the state.

The Centre does not have much time at hand as TRS, which is spearheading the agitation, has said that it will give only a month's time to accede to its demand for a separate state. While the BJP has already pledged its support for a separate state, other parties -- Congress, TDP and Jagan's YSR Congress -- are divided along regional lines.

"Four parties are undecided on the Telangana issue...on top of the group is the Congress," Union Home Minister P Chidambaram said when asked by reporters how long would it take to resolve the matter. "One important stage of consultations is over," he said, in reference to Azad's deliberations with the Congress MLAs from Andhra Pradesh. "After the report (by Azad) is submitted, we should allow a little time for the party and government to take a decision," Chidambaram said adding that once the parties have firmed up their views on Telangana, he would call an all-party meeting to evolve a consensus.

The Centre has so far been pointing to the division within the Congress and other regional players to delay a decision on the statehood demand. With things going awry in the state and Hyderabad bearing the brunt of the agitation, the Centre may not be able to persist with this approach.

"No government will actively support any general strike, bandh or rail or rasta roko," he said and appealed to the protestors to allow time for negotiations. "You have made your point...but continuation of the agitiation is crippling economic activity and causing inconvenience to the ordinary people," he noted.

The Congress high command had in July asked Azad to hold consultations with leaders from Telangana, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions on the issue and elicit their views. Azad has been receiving delegations of ministers, MPs and MLAs from all the three regions since July and concluded the process on Wednesday. During the interactions, the leaders, who are divided deeply on regional lines, had stuck to their known stands.