Cong meet discusses Seemandhra strategy

The Congress high command is in favour of imposition of President’s Rule in the state, but though it has been six days since the CM resigned, the Centre is yet to take a call on it.

During his meeting with ministers, AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh is learnt to have asked them to propagate the special category status and fiscal incentives announced by the government for Seemandhra to curtail the damage caused by division of the state.

Sources said some ministers who are likely to go with Reddy did not attend the meeting. The Congress is also in talks with TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao to arrive at an electoral formula in Telangana. Rao met PM Manmohan Singh as well as BJP chief Rajnath Singh to thank them for the creation of Telangana before he left for Hyderabad. Sources said he told the Congress leadership an immediate merger was not possible.

TRS leaders said they raised issues like shortage of power in Telangana, creation of an AIIMS like institution in the state, gas allocation and central assistance to maintain the world-class image of Hyderabad city during their meeting with the PM. After the meeting, former MP and TRS leader B Vinod Kumar said the merger issue would be discussed only after the elections.

“If both of us come to a conclusion that it would be better for us to merge so we can develop Telangana, there is no problem. But as the elections are coming up, we thought we can have an alliance now… and after elections, we can think on those subjects,” Kumar said.

He said a large section of TRS cadre feel the party should enter an alliance and not merge.