Deployment of paramilitary forces in Hyderabad and cities and towns in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts on Friday triggered speculation that the announcement on the formation of Telangana was close. Related: Time to take decision,says Digvijaya A statement by AICC general secretary and Andhra Pradesh in-charge Digvijaya Singh in Delhi that consultations were over and the time had come to take a decision,led to Jai Telangana slogans in Warangal,Medak and Ranga Reddy districts where Telangana activists and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) workers burst crackers. Full coverage: Fight for Telangana Telangana leaders were expecting the statehood announcement to coincide with the ongoing,weeklong Bonalu celebrations,the regions biggest festival. Related: As Telangana birth nears,agitationists want united AP However,reports that Hyderabad may be designated as a joint capital for a few years,and that the new state could be Rayala-Telangana,dampened the spirits of the pro-Telangana groups. Companies of CRPF and Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed in Vijayawada in Krishna district,Guntur,Eluru,East and West Godavari,Prakasam,Kadapa and Anantapur. The presence of Karnataka Polices special force alongside the paramilitary battalions is being seen as the states preparation to use a neutral force to control any law and order situation arising after the Telangana announcement. DGP V Dinesh Reddy,however,maintained that the force had been deployed for the panchayat elections. Telangana leaders,activists and workers started gathering at Telangana Bhavan,the headquarters of TRS,and its offices in the districts,as news trickled in that the Congress meeting in Delhi had ended. There were cheers and hugs all around after Digvijaya Singhs statement, TRS member Pravin Reddy said. With news channels showing a smiling Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha,who hails from Telangana,and the stiff body language of ministers including Botsa Satyanarayana,MLAs and leaders from coastal and Rayalaseema districts including union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi,Telangana leaders were presuming that the Congress had already conveyed to them that a separate state was inevitable. After meeting senior party leaders including Digvijaya Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad,MPs,MLAs and leaders of coastal and Rayalaseema districts met first at Andhra Bhavan and later at the residence of union minister Kavuru Sambasiva Rao to discuss what they could do next to persuade the Congress leadership not to bifurcate the state. Sources in the Congress said more than 70 party MLAs had indicated that they would resign if the bifurcation of the state was announced. Several MPs were also learnt to have conveyed this to Digvijaya Singh on Friday. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy conveyed the opposition from MPs and MLAs of coastal and Rayalaseema to Congress president Sonia Gandhi during an hour-long meeting. After the Congress Core Committee meeting started in New Delhi,the tone of many Congress leaders and ministers who were against bifurcation of the state changed,and they issued statements that they would abide by whatever decision the party takes on Telangana.
