Even as the rumbling about the timing of the all-party meeting on the Telangana statehood demand, called by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on December 28, continues, a move is on to solve the thorny issue sooner or later.
According to sources, the government and the Congress top-brass hope to resolve all pending issues, including Telangana, so that the party can plan better for the 2014 elections. As per the current script, the decks may be cleared for a January announcement.
With the government finally evolving a working relation with the Opposition, the all-party meeting will be used as a sounding board and not a fruitless exercise as is being said. It seems Shinde has been asked to make an assessment, especially of the main players of Andhra Pradesh politics. As the new Union Home Minister, the meeting (though called under duress of T-MPs) is expected to provide Shinde an opportunity to interact with the various stake-holders in a structured format.
Though the Union Health Minister and Congress in-charge of the state, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has already interacted with almost everybody concerned, sources pointed out, the meetings had taken place at an informal political level. What the government is now looking for is a formal feedback on the contentious issues - status of Hyderabad, water sharing and the method/time-period of separation.
The Congress will then take up the issue for discussion at the Chintan Baithak slated to take place on January 18 and 19 in Jaipur, followed by a party resolution. The anti-Telangana lobby, however,claimed that they would continue to oppose the move till the party high-command takes a final decision and the announcement is made. The Congress doesn’t have a reliable leader like YSR Rajashekhar Reddy. His son Jagan Mohan has bolted with his the YSR legacy, compounding matters further. The Congress top-brass is still hoping that the TINA factor would work in the party’s favour-both in Telangana and in the rest of the State.