New Delhi:
At the end of a long day which saw 96 MLAs from different parties resigning in protest against a Telangana state, Congress leaders in Delhi worked for a consensus.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi held discussions with senior leaders on Thursday night. After the meeting, party sources said they were not unduly worried over the developments and hoped a consensus would be arrived at amicably.
The meeting, held at the residence of Gandhi at 10 Janpath, lasted for about 20 minutes and was attended by Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, A K Antony, M Veerappa Moily and Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel. Sources said Gandhi and the leaders took stock of the situation.
Speaking to NDTV earlier, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said the party isconcerned with the mass resignations (these include 43 Congress MLAs)in Andhra.
Upset with the central government's decision on the creation of separate Telangana state, 43 Congress MLAs and two MPs resigned, with several more indicating that they could follow suit.
Prior to the high-level meeting, Gandhi received a delegation of party MPs from non-Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh and assured them that any final decision would be taken only after considering all views.
A total of 18 MPs from the Andhra and Rayalseema regions of the state, including late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jagan Mohan and three Union Ministers Panabaka Luxmi, D Purnadeswari and A Sai Prathap met Gandhi to express their opposition to the bifurcation of the state.
The party MPs also held a late night meeting with Moily who is also in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh.
After a meeting with Moily along with other MPs, Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju hoped that Andhra Pradesh would remain united. "Our hope is that Andhra remains united and we think that the Centre was compelled to make the announcement (to form Telangana). We have strongly expressed our views," he told reporters.
"It is up to the Government to decide on whether to have a relook into the announcement," he said when asked whether the MPs will ask for a relook into the issue.
Another MP K Sambasiva Rao claimed that the Home Minister's statement was "misinterpreted".
(With PTI inputs)
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi held discussions with senior leaders on Thursday night. After the meeting, party sources said they were not unduly worried over the developments and hoped a consensus would be arrived at amicably.
The meeting, held at the residence of Gandhi at 10 Janpath, lasted for about 20 minutes and was attended by Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, A K Antony, M Veerappa Moily and Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel. Sources said Gandhi and the leaders took stock of the situation.
Speaking to NDTV earlier, Law Minister Veerappa Moily said the party isconcerned with the mass resignations (these include 43 Congress MLAs)in Andhra.
Upset with the central government's decision on the creation of separate Telangana state, 43 Congress MLAs and two MPs resigned, with several more indicating that they could follow suit.
Prior to the high-level meeting, Gandhi received a delegation of party MPs from non-Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh and assured them that any final decision would be taken only after considering all views.
A total of 18 MPs from the Andhra and Rayalseema regions of the state, including late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jagan Mohan and three Union Ministers Panabaka Luxmi, D Purnadeswari and A Sai Prathap met Gandhi to express their opposition to the bifurcation of the state.
The party MPs also held a late night meeting with Moily who is also in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh.
After a meeting with Moily along with other MPs, Minister of State for Defence Pallam Raju hoped that Andhra Pradesh would remain united. "Our hope is that Andhra remains united and we think that the Centre was compelled to make the announcement (to form Telangana). We have strongly expressed our views," he told reporters.
"It is up to the Government to decide on whether to have a relook into the announcement," he said when asked whether the MPs will ask for a relook into the issue.
Another MP K Sambasiva Rao claimed that the Home Minister's statement was "misinterpreted".
(With PTI inputs)
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