'PM has assured nothing in haste on Telangana'

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday assured a delegation of Congress MPs from non-Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh that nothing will be done in haste on the creation of a separate state, senior party leader K S Rao said.

The MPs from coastal Andhra and Rayasaleema regions met the Prime Minister for 40 minutes after which Rao told reporters that the Singh assured that "nothing will be done in haste".

On Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement on the issue, Rao said it was "nothing new" but a reiteration of the old stand of the Congress and the Centre.

"He (Chidambaram) only said that the process will be started by asking the state Assembly to move a resolution," Rao said.

He said the process was already on as a party committee under Chief Minister K Rosaiah was formed in February this year to look into the demand.

The people of coastal Andhra and Rayalseema, he said, were "provoked" as there was some misunderstanding on the statement of the home minister.

Describing the situation as "very, very serious", he said they were finding it difficult to go back to their constituencies because of the "sentiments of the people for a unified Andhra Pradesh".