5 Dec 2009
CONG READY TO BITE TELENGANA CARD
From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Congress was engaged Saturday night in devising a political strategy to capitalise on the separate Telengana state issue rocking Andhra Pradesh whole of the week and defuse the heat on the party's government in the state.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi is understood to have spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for revival of the Pranab Mukherjee Committee on Telengana that was constituted during UPA-I government but then abandoned. Revival of the committee may be announced on Monday to soothen the tense feelings in Andhra Pradesh.
Home Minister P Chidambaram and National Security Adviser M K Narayanan were keeping an eye on developments in Hyderabad. A clearcut approach on the Telengana issue is likely to be evolved on Sunday when Sonia and Manmohan Singh meet to study the inputs of Chidambaram and Narayanan, a top Congress source said. Also summoned to Delhi on Sunday is PCC chief D Srinivas to be available for consultations.
The prime concern of the Congress is to bring peace in Andhra Pradesh, particularly because the current agitation may otherwise cast its shadow on the Andhra Pradesh Assembly beginning its session on Monday.
The Congress is also contemplating to ask its MPs to raise the Telengana issue in both the Houses of Parliament on Monday to snatch away the initiative from the hands of the opposition parties.
On Saturday, Jagan Reddy, the Congress MP and son of Chief Y S R Reddy, as also former union minister P Shiv Shankar had meetings with Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, the incharge of the Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary G K Pillai and Intelligence Bureau chief Rajiv Mathur reviewed the law and order situation in the state on the basis of the inputs from the state police chief and IB official in Hyderabad. The Home Secretary also rang up the Chief Secretary.
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