NEW DELHI/HYDERABAD: In a day of flip-flops, a beleaguered Congress high command almost issued a statement on Tuesday to pacify party leaders firmly opposed to splitting the state. But stopped short of actually doing it after those bent upon division threatened of dire consequences if the Centre diluted its earlier statement. As a result, the Congress core committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday and intended to hammer out a solution agreeable to all got postponed again. While Pranab Mukherjee was scheduled to meet the two groups separately later in the night, AICC general secretary (in-charge of AP) M Veerappa Moily has now summoned all party leaders from Telangana to New Delhi.
Earlier in the day, Moily first held a meeting with MPs opposed to division led by N Janardhan Reddy. "A solution was arrived at which envisaged the Centre issuing a one-line amendment to its announcement on Telangana. This was acceptable to these leaders," an AICC source in New Delhi said. The Congress core committee was to make the announcement later in the day. But apprehending the high command's move, Congressmen batting for splitsville stepped up pressure. While seven such MPs met Union home minister P Chidambaram, Moily and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel and opposed any dilution, 25 MLAs, MLCs and one MP met in Hyderabad and wrote a letter to Sonia. In short, these leaders not only vetoed any amendment but also opposed setting up of a committee or a second states reorganisation commission. The letter from Hyderabad, taken to Sonia by Nalgonda Congress MP G Sukhender Reddy, even carried a veiled threat of 'civil war'. The pro-division leaders who met in Delhi included K Keshava Rao, V Hanumantha Rao, Sarve Satyanarayana, Manda Jagannatham, Girish Sanghi, Nandi Yellaiah, M A Khan and AICC secretary P Sudhakar. Sources said Keshava Rao too threatened of a civil strife targeting people opposed to division if the Centre backtracked. Those who met at the residence of MLC K Yadava Reddy in Hyderabad included K R Suresh Reddy, K Jana Reddy, R Damodar Reddy, B Saraiah, G Venkataramana Reddy, Bikshapathy Goud, Nandishwar Goud, K R Amose, S Indrasain Reddy, Bhanu Prasad, Mohan Reddy and B Kamalakar Rao.
After the dire threats, Moily held another round of talks with those against the partition. "They were informed that the statement acceptable to these leaders has been put off in view of stiff opposition from separatists," said a source.
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