Telangana: Centre begins consultations

In a bid to find a way out on the Telangana issue, the Centre and the Congress on Tuesday began hectic consultations with MPs from Andhra Pradesh, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said a decision would be taken soon to "bring everything in order".

Law Minister M Veerappa Moily and political secretary to Congress President Ahmed Patel met the state party MPs demanding creation of a separate Telangana and those advocating a united Andhra separately.

Indications are that the Congress Core Group is likely to meet again this evening and may come out with a statement to satisfy both the groups.

The prime minister did not rule out a statement when asked in Parliament by newsmen, saying "right now nothing can be said".

The core group headed by party chief Sonia Gandhi met late last night at the prime minister's residence to solve the issue.