Only the Congress has the power and persuasive capacity to form a separate Telangana state through consensus, Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president K Keshav Rao said on Monday.
Keshav Rao said that the statement of AICC President Sonia Gandhi on Telangana has cleared the confusion among state Congress legislators and parliamentarians regarding the party's stand on the sensitive issue.
Welcoming her assertion that the Congress would continue its efforts to achieve consensus on formation of the state, he said that slogans and agitations would not help in finding solution to sensitive issues like Telangana statehood. He claimed that 'the Congress is more committed to Telangana issue than anybody else'.
Recalling Sonia's statement that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister Pranab Mukharjee were talking to other UPA constituents on the issue, he termed it as an example of the sincerity of the Congress on the issue.
Keshav Rao alleged that Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao was resorting to false propaganda against the Congress and was trying to derive political mileage.
Though the Congress had spelt out its efforts on Telangana issue, the TRS leadership was trying to create doubts among Telangana people over the ruling party's sincerity, he said.
"Telangana issue is not the monopoly of TRS," he said and alleged that the TRS chief was working with a hidden agenda but such self-centered agendas would do no good to Telangana cause.