The Congress party core committee discussed the Telangana issue for an hour today but could not take any decision on the vexed problem.

Party sources said the congress leadership may seek more time to discuss the issue with national leaders before taking a final decision. The meeting was held at the official residence of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and attended by the party president Sonia Gandhi, Defence Minister AK Antony, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P. Chidambaram apart from Manmohan Singh.

Meanwhile, taking objection to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh’s statement that they can go ahead on Telangana only after a consensus at the national level, T congress MPs decided to seek the intervention of the party president Sonia Gandhi immediately on the issue as a final resort.

T congress MP Mr Madhu Yashki Goud told a media conference in Hyderabad this evening after a meeting of the MPs that Sonia was their last hope on Telangana and would take up the issue with her directly. “We will also raise the issue in the winter session of parliament,” he said.

The MPs discussed the issue in Hyderabad today in the wake of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent comments that they cannot take a decision in favour of Telangana without arriving at consensus.

The TRS has accused Congress leadership of indulging in hypocrisy and double speak on the issue of Telangana.

PM’s comments

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, on his way back to India last night from the SAARC Summit, had told journalists that the Centre can’t take a decision on the issue of Telangana unless there is a consensus among all the parties concerned.

“How can we take decisions on the sensitive issue unilaterally without arriving at consensus and especially where there is opposition in the other parts of the state on formation of separate state?” he asked journalists.