Decision on Telangana issue likely by end June

NEW DELHI: Under sustained pressure from its MP and MLAs from the Telangana region, the Congress top-brass may finally take a decision on the vexed separate statehood issue by month-end.Indications are that the Congress core committee will not delay taking a political decision on the pending Telangana beyond early July. Though the Telegana leaders have set a July 1 deadline, they are quite hopeful that a decision would be taken the moment Congress president Sonia Gandhi comes back from her summer break.The entire Telangana group on Wednesday called on Union Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy at his residence for a meeting over lunch. Sources said that the rendevous was organised as much to cool tempers as to draw up a future roadmap.Jaipal Reddy was, virtually, forced to lend symbolic support to the Telangana cause, the lunch was his call for truce.A group of irate Telangana Congress leaders on Wednesday demanded his resignation from the Union Cabinet. The Telangana leaders were convinced by senior party leaders not to lose patience, and go back to Hyderabad. It is on the request of Pranab Mukherjee and Ahmed Patel that they seem to have agreed to wait till the end of the month for a positive decision from the party high command.The Telangana leaders, including six ministers who skipped the Cabinet meeting in Hyderabad, met on Thursday at the residence of K Rajagopal Reddy and decided to wait till the month end for the party high command to give them positive solution to their demand.According to Rajagopal Reddy, Telangana leaders would meet on July 1 in Hyderabad to chart the future course of action depending on the decision of the party high command. Though few leaders have favoured the way of en-mass resignations, it could get the approval of the majority. However, they wanted to prepare for any course of action depending on the decision of party high command.Union Home Ministry sources said that the Telangana issue cannot be pushed forward or shelved unless a final political call is taken. “It is not just an administrative issue, but about politics and sentiments,” a senior Home Ministry official explained.Taking a cue from the sixth option in the report of Srikrishna commission, the party high command offered creation of council on the lines of Gorkhaland model of autonomy for Telangana with more powers and direct regular central funding, besides a big financial package. But this offer has not found favours with the Telangana leaders, who are unwilling to settle for anything short of a separate state.