Telangana Congress leaders to hold talks with Ghulam Nabi Azad

Softening their stand, Telangana Congress leaders today said they will go to Delhi either on July 21 or 22 to hold talks with senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on the contentious separate statehood issue.

"In view of the Centre's invitation, we plan to go to Delhi on July 21 or 22," MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy told reporters here after a meeting of Telangana Congress leaders.

Taking exception to Azad's remarks that consensus and assembly resolution are necessary for the formation of separate state and that the Telangana issue should start from the scratch, Congress leaders from the region yesterday refused to accept his invitation to come to Delhi until he withdrew his comments.

"We hope he (Azad) would clarify his remarks," Reddy said.

Observing that they are not averse to talks, he, however, said the proposed talks should eventually pave way for formation of separate state.

Azad, in-charge of Congress affairs in Andhra Pradesh, yesterday said that consultations will be held with party leaders from coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana in a bid to resolve the vexed statehood issue.

He told a delegation of non-Telangana Congress leaders to select a few representatives from the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions and send them for the consultation process.

Another Telangana Congress MP K Rajagopal Reddy hoped that the consultation process proposed to be initiated by the Centre would lead to the formation of a separate Telangana.

"We believe the consultation mechanism would take the opinions of leaders from other regions, listen to their objections to separate Telangana. We will place our justified demand for separate state before the mechanism. We hope the Centre and high command would give separate Telangana. So, we are not against talks," he said.

The Telangana Congress leaders have called upon party cadres to observe 'satyagraha' tomorrow at all mandal headquarters across the region and a 'Congress flag festival' on July 26.