Amidst talk of a positive decision by the Congress high command on the Telangana issue soon, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana kept themselves busy in Delhi on Wednesday, holding parleys with their Delhi bosses separately.
Kiran Reddy, who is said to be in favour of announcing a package for Telangana in lieu of statehood, had a long meeting with defence minister A K Antony.
Botcha, who had undertaken Delhi visit on Wednesday morning to know the happenings on the T-front there, called on AICC state affairs incharge Digvijaya Singh. The chief minister has decided to stay put in the national capital till Thursday to continue his discussions with the AICC top brass.
“The chief minister has sought an appointment with AICC supremo Sonia Gandhi. He might get an audience with her on Thursday,” said a Congress source. After meeting the defence minister on Wednesday, Kiran Reddy spent the rest of the day in AP Bhavan and supervised the relief operations for stranded Telugu pilgrims in Uttarakhand.
Earlier, he had a lengthy meeting with AICC point man to the state Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday night. Since Digvijaya also held discussions with Union minister Pallam Raju, and MPs Lagadapati Rajagopal and KVP Ramachandra Rao on Tuesday night, several state Congress leaders feel that the AICC leadership is taking a final call on the T-issue.
Seemandhra Ministers Split
Meanwhile, ministers from Seemandhra appear divided on the issue of state bifurcation. Ministers N Raghuveera Reddy and Dokka Manikya Varaprasada Rao made it clear that they would abide by whatever decision their high command took, whereas Ganta Srinivasa Rao said the Seemandhra leaders would meet Digvijaya on June 30 and put forth their argument for keeping the state united.
Speaking to reporters in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, Ganta dismissed the speculations that the Congress high command is in favour of bifurcating the state.