Hyderabad:
A flurry of meetings through the day are building up to the one where the Congress' highest decision making body, its working committee, will take a final decision on bifurcating Andhra Pradesh to create a new Telangana state. 15 Congress MPs who oppose splitting the state met party president Sonia Gandhi this morning to voice their worries on the likely fallout of such a decision.
Here are the latest developments in the story:
Mrs Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are currently meeting their allies in the UPA to discuss with them a roadmap for creating India's 29th state, Telangana.
After this meeting, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy will meet the PM and Mrs Gandhi. Mr Reddy has just finished meeting Digvijaya Singh, the Congress general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh; the CM favours a united Andhra Pradesh and is said to be upset with the decision to create a separate Telangana, but has reportedly been persuaded not to resign in protest.
At 5.30 pm, the CWC will meet and is expected to formally endorse the creation of Telangana. Mrs Gandhi has already met a small group of top Congress leaders at her home this afternoon. She is said to have decided a few days ago that the Congress' promise on statehood for Telangana must be met.
Non-Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh - Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema - oppose splitting the state and Congress leaders from these regions say they fear widespread protests. They also argue that their voters will respond with retributive force.
But ministers like Pallam Raju and Chiranjeevi have also ruled out resigning in protest. "There is no question of resigning. We are all worried that whatever decision that they may make is going to have a long term implication in Andhra Pradesh," said Mr Raju.
The Centre has sent an additional 1,000 paramilitary soldiers to Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema to prevent trouble. Four battalions have also been posted in the state for anti-Naxal operations. The Union Home Ministry is in constant touch with the Andhra Pradesh police.
Pro-Telangana leaders, across political parties, are also camped in Delhi in anticipation of an announcement they have long awaited. "Telangana will come into reality today. We are also hopeful of Hyderabad as its capital," Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Damodar Rajanarsimha said today.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS, which has led the movement for a separate Telangana in recent years, has warned that the ruling Congress will face "severe resistance" if it decides to make Hyderabad, with its booming economy powered largely by the IT industry, a shared capital for Andhra Pradesh and the new Telangana state.
It also says that a proposal to affix two districts from Rayalaseema to Telangana's existing 10 districts is not acceptable. The Congress is considering this option as it will ensure that the new and old states have 20 parliamentary seats each, and that the stronghold of political rival Jagan Mohan Reddy is divided across the new border.
The actual formation of the state is expected to be completed by early next year. The cabinet will share its plans with President Pranab Mukherjee and the Andhra Pradesh legislature will be asked for insights. The PM will then set up a committee to negotiate consensus between the leaders from the three regions of the state for issues like how to share revenue and water. Both Houses of Parliament will have to then pass the resolution for the creation of a separate state.
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