Cong backs PM's insistence on consensus over Telangana

The Congress on Monday backed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's insistence on a consensus to solve the issue of a separate Telangana state saying the vexed matter "cannot be decided in distress."

"We must continue efforts to bring people to the table. How can we decide in distress? There has to be a coming together....for discussions....give and take and mapping a way out", party spokesperson Renuka Chowdhury told reporters.

Her remarks came when her reaction was sought to prime minister's recent comments that he would favour a consensus on the issue of statehood for Telangana, a statement that has raised the hackles of pro-Telangana parties and leaders.

Chowdhury, who herself hails from the Telangana region, made the remarks hours after party members of Parliament from the region decided to meet Sonia Gandhi to seek her intervention, noting that the party chief was their 'last hope' to resolve the issue. They also said that they would raise the issue in the winter session of Parliament beginning Nov 22.

"We will immediately take up this issue with our president Sonia Gandhi, our last hope. Many a time she has changed decisions taken by the United Progressive Alliance government...whether it is Food Security Bill, NREGA, Right to Information Act etc," Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud said in Hyderabad after a meeting.

When told about the sharp attack by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi on the prime minister, she regretted this kind of reaction to his statement.

The prime minister had last week said, "Telangana is a complicated matter and we are trying to evolve a consensus where all shades of public opinion would agree that what is being done is in interest of each and everyone. We cannot solve the problem by agreeing to Telangana while there is disquiet and unrest in other regions of Andhra Pradesh..."