More meetings to arrive at decision on Telangana: Congress leader

Even as the Congress is engaged in taking a call on carving out a separate state of Telangana, a party leader involved in the exercise said Saturday that it would take some time for the new state to become a reality.

New Delhi: Even as the Congress is engaged in taking a call on carving out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, a party leader involved in the exercise said Saturday that it would take some time for the new state to become a reality.

The decision is, however, likely to be taken before the monsoon session of parliament, the Congress leader said, adding that a few more meetings were required, involving consultations with other leaders. The Congress leader made it clear that the delay on account of more consultations would be "slight". A meeting of the Congress core group comprising the Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was held Friday to discuss the issue of the separate state of Telangana. However, that meeting could not come to a decision on the formation of a separate state. The entire exercise is also being viewed in the context of general elections next year. IANS