Hyderabad:
For a week, Telangana has dominated the Lok Sabha agenda; the crisis evident from the fact that the ruling party's own MPs are split right down the middle over a new Telangana state.
On Thursday, Jagan Mohan Reddy, the son for former chief minister YSR Reddy, stood up for a united Andhra, trying to be a rallying point for Congress MPs who don't want Andhra bifurcated.
Congress MPs from Telangana, however, shouted "Jai Telangana" over and over.
After lunch, Lok Sabha was adjourned because of the chaos. And a delegation of Congress MPs and MLAs from Coastal Andhra and Rayalseema trooped in to meet Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
"He advised us to let things cool down. This is an emotional issue. There has to be consensus," said MP Subirami Reddy, who was part of that meeting.
That consensus remains elusive. By late afternoon, the other camp of pro-Telangana MPs called on the Home Minister to argue for a new state. "The UPA government has given a commitment and Madam Sonia Gandhi will fulfill our dream," said S Satyanarayana, a Congress MP from Hyderabad .
Through the meetings and the lobbying, the Congress high command has maintained a studied silence. Sources say that in principle, the party still stands for a separate Telangana, but it wants to go slow on the implementation..
The issue has not only drawn sharp reactions in Andhra but added fuel to the demand for other small states - Vidharbha in Maharashtra; Gorkhaland in West Bengal; and Harit Pradesh and Bundelkhand in UP all cite the Telangana example in protests that are louder than ever before.
Also worrying for the Congress: its allies in the UPA government are unhappy that the Telangana decision was taken without consulting them.