'Sonia striving for consensus on Telangana'

Hyderabad, Sept 16: Congress President Sonia Gandhi is earnestly striving to evolve a consensus on the Telangana issue, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) President K Keshava Rao said today.

Addressing a press conference here, Mr Rao said Ms Gandhi was working on a possible solution on the sensitive issue.

As the Telangana issue had transformed into a national issue, broad consensus among parties was necessary and she is working in that direction, he added.

He recalled that the Congress legislators from Telangana had submitted a memorandum to the party President Sonia Gandhi to press for the constitution of a second States Reorganisation Commission on the issue even before the TRS raised the demand.

Congress MP Madhu Yaski Goud, present at the conference, said the party was committed to the Telangana issue.

Mr Goud, who had discussions on the issue with AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh and Defence Minister and UPA Sub-committee on Telangana Chairman Pranab Mukherjee at New Delhi yesterday, demanded that the Congress leader Chinna Reddy should clarify his reported remarks that there was no need for a separate state as the state government was ushering all-round development.

Brushing aside criticism by opposition parties over the proposed expansion of the Pothireddipadu head regulator, he maintained that the interests of the Telangana region would in no way be affected due to expansion.

UNI