Azad Needs To Learn Maths: Pedana MLA Jogi

Leaders on both sides of the Telangana fence seem equally fed up of the AICC, which seems just as comfortable perched on the very same fence.

Andhra Pradesh Congress Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, after a Congress core committee meeting, categorically stated that there would be no decision taken on Telangana tomorrow, and that all parties will need to be consulted again. He added that CM Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC Chief Botsa Satyanarayana will soon be called to New Delhi for a consultation. When asked for a deadline for the meeting, Azad again replied in the noncommittal. After clarifying that his statement was only from the party and not the government, he told the reporters that they can hear the same from the Home Ministry.

Later on, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde also said that the "deadline" is to be extended, and, unlike after the all-party meet last month, he did not committ to a deadline, giving the media a vague "it will be sorted soon".

Shinde, who will be leaving for a two-day tour of Bangladesh on Monday, issued the statement just a day before the end of deadline that he himself had set to resolve the Telangana issue after holding an all-party meeting at New Delhi on December 28.

These postponement of the much-hyped "deadline" of 28 January, exactly one month after the all-party meet, has caused an outcry among politicians from the Seemandhra and Telangana regions. BJP leader Vidyasagar Rao claimed that the "decision can be taken in an instance if only they make up their minds. They have been demanding a consensus from all other parties, but Congress itself has not clarified its stand on Telangana."

Meanwhile, Seemandhra MLA Jogi Ramesh mocked Azad saying that it seemed the minister needed to learn his math again. "If a week does not mean 7 days and a month does not mean 30 days, then a few days could mean years or centuries. As a Samaikyavadi, I want the state to remain united. But, as a citizen of a state which has been facing difficulties due to the central government's ambiguity, I appeal to them to take the decision immediately."

- with inputs from INN