Ghulam Nabi Azad clarified that the Congress party and the UPA Government are yet to take a decision on the Telangana issue.
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is the In-charge of AP Congress Affairs, on Saturday stated that finding a solution for Telangana statehood issue is a long process.
"It is not an easy decision to be taken, and it cannot be resolved in one day," Azad told reporters after a meeting on the issue with senior Congress leaders including Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony and Ahmed Patel.
The meeting was held at Pranab Mukherjee's residence, and Home Minister P Chidambaram who was in Chennai, reportedly joined the meeting through a conference call.
Azad clarified that the Congress party and the UPA Government are yet to take a decision on the Telangana issue. He refuted reports aired on news channels on Friday night related to the report he had submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
He said that he had held detailed consultation with Congress MLAs, MLCs, MPs, ministers and former elected representatives belonging to Telangana, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions.
"The consultation process continued for 2 months in August and September. Now, after hearing everybody, we will have to hear other people also," he said.
"Before taking a resolution, whatever it may be, we need to take everyone on board. We need to have more discussions with some senior leaders at the national level, and some leaders from the state also," Azad said.
He further stated that one part of the process has been completed, and that the next process, of having consultations at the national level, has started.
Azad did not take any questions related to the "deadline" set for the completion of consultation. He also did not answer whether Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao was consulted on the issue. (INN)