In a clear indication of the Congress partys thinking on the Telangana statehood issue,senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad called up Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi late Friday night to seek his views on the creation of Rayala-Telangana by incorporating Anantpur and Kurnool districts in the proposed state. Sources said Azad,who made the call after the Congress Core Group meeting on Friday evening,could not extract any assurance of support from the leader of the All India Majlis-e Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) who is known to have reservations on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Owaisi was said to have cautioned Azad against division of the state saying that it would strengthen the BJP in Telangana. He had given the same feedback recently to Digvijaya Singh,AICC general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh. Owaisis is not the only voice of opposition to bifurcation of the state as most Congress leaders from the state and the Centre who have been consulted by the party high command have reservations on any such move. In fact,Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy,who had been called to Delhi for consultation on Friday,was learnt to have told the leadership that it would be suicidal to create a Telangana state. State leaders were learnt to have argued that while a decision in favour of Telangana may not bear any great electoral dividends in the region constituting 17 Lok Sabha seats,it may have serious consequences for the party on 25 Lok Sabha seats falling in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra regions. Maintaining that all consultations on Telangana are over and a final call would be taken by Sunday or Monday,sources said that while the Congress president has made up her mind on Telangana,feedback from party leaders is to the contrary. The Home Ministry has cautioned the Congress leadership against the move saying that it could re-ignite passions and lead to calls for Gorkhaland and Bodoland. There are also concerns about the revival of Naxalism in Telangana region if it is carved out of Andhra Pradesh. Except Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha and party MPs from Telangana regions,the proposal for statehood,sources said,has not found favour with most other leaders including A K Antony,Sushil Kumar Shinde,Digvijaya Singh,Kishore Chandra Deo,Kiran Kumar Reddy. On Saturday,MPs and Union Ministers from Telanagana region including K S Rao,Chiranjeevi,M M Pallam Raju,and D Purandeswari met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to oppose any division of Andhra Pradesh. The opposition notwithstanding,Congress sources said Sonia Gandhi is keen to fulfil the decades-old demand for a separate state of Telangana. While the Congress had initially sought to address it by supporting the formation of Second States Reorganisation Commission,UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhis remarks at a rally in Hyderabad on February 28,2009,had been interpreted as her endorsement of the demand. We are in favour of formation of a separate Telangana state in principle. But there are a number of minor issues that need to be addressed before a decision is taken. Only after talking to all the parties involved in this and taking care of their needs,we can take a final call, she had then said. The party leadership is also exploring the idea of buying some more time by seeking a resolution from the state Assembly in favour of a Telangana state. As it is,such a resolution is unlikely to be passed,and the Kiran Kumar Reddy government may then be asked to dissolve the House and seek a fresh mandate. Depending on the nature of the mandate,the Congress can then recalibrate its stance on Telangana before the Lok Sabha elections. But,these are still ideas,which are being explored. Sonia Gandhi is keen to grant statehood to Telangana and how she decides to go about it should be clear by Monday, a senior AICC functionary told The Sunday Express. The fallout Kolkata: With the Centre pressing ahead on Telangana,the GJM Saturday announced the start of a final battle for Gorkhaland. GJM president Bimal Gurung called a 72-hour strike from July 29 and declared that the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration would be scrapped. CM Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of stoking trouble in Gorkhaland and Junglemahal and of targeting her government by creating Telangana.
