Despite a gag order enforced on Congress leaders by the party high command, senior party leader and Congress Working Committee member K Kesava Rao said that there can be no compromise on the demand for a separate Telangana.
Speaking to media persons in New Delhi where he has been summoned by union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for a meeting of party MPs from Andhra Pradesh, Kesava Rao said that the question of a "compromise formula" being arrived at does not arise.
He said that the option of 'going back' on the issue does not arise. He insisted that a number of party leaders are ready to resign from their posts if the demand for Telangana is not met.
KK added that their decision to resign will stand since they have 'sworn on the names of those martyrs of Telangana who had sacrificed their lives for a separate state'.
When questioned about the expected recommendations in the Justice Srikrishna report, the senior leader brushed off the queries, saying that the recommendations are redundant, and that the demand of a separate state is the only subject that remains important.
Kesava Rao's comments come a day ahead of a crucial all-party conclave to discuss the Srikrishna Commission report before it is made public.