Congress high command which has been focusing on the Telangana issue has started hectic consultations beginning with the Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and the former Chief Minister and Tamilnadu governor K Rosaiah.
The high command called the Chief Minister to the capital and heard his views. Soon after landing in the capital, the Chief Minister straight drove to the residence of the party’s general secretary and state affairs in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad and held discussions with him. Without even going to the AP Bhavan, he went from Azad’s house to 10 Janpath, official residence of the party supremo Sonia Gandhi and held discussions with her. It is learnt that the Chief Minister while leaving the decision to the high command’s discretion, advised the leadership against taking a hasty decision in favour of state bifurcation. He has reportedly warned the leadership that the party would face further difficulties by bifurcating the state, than gaining politically. He explained how Congress gained in the cooperative elections. He reportedly placed election results before the high command, showing how Congress stood first and pushed even the YSRCP and TRS to third places in the Seemandhra and Telangana regions respectively. He explained that the Congress had politically regained its number one place and this situation might reverse if a pro-Telangana decision was taken.
The Chief Minister met Digvijay Singh union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and President Pranab Mukherjee also. It is learnt that he had expressed the same views in his meetings with them also. The President reportedly asked the Chief Minister about the situation in the state and the he used the opportunity to express himself against Telangana. The discussion of the Chief Minister with the President centred round ‘T’ said sources.
The presence of Rosaiah in the capital at the crucial time of consultations gave rise to speculations that the high command was valuing his opinions because of his long political innings and his being the Chief Minister when the ‘T’ movement was at its peak. It is learnt that Sonia Gandhi had already taken Rosaiah’s opinion on the matter. However as Rosaiah is a diplomat, he simply explained the entire situation and left the decision to Sonia’s wisdom.
The meeting the union minister of state for Tourism Chiranjeevi had with the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday gained importance. Though Rahul Gandhi reportedly called Chiranjeevi to discuss with him about providing employment to the youth through tourism, the real purpose is said to be to discuss Telangana. Chiru, a known integrationist told Rahul that the state would prosper only when it was united. He reportedly explained that the Telangana movement was by some politically unemployed persons and the upsurge from the people had actually died down. The presence of Kanna Lakshmi Narayana and Ponnala Lakshmaiah ministers of Seemandhra and Telangana respectively is also giving rise to speculations about the purpose of their visit. Kanna Lakshmi Narayana is a staunch integrationist and Ponnala is a Telangana protagonist. But as Ponnala is facing CBI case in connection with Jagan assets, it is being said that he came to the capital to explain his innocence in the matter. However, Kanna is said to be doing the rounds campaigning against Telangana.
