Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and deputy CM Damodar Raja Narasimha gave a presentation on the issue of Telangana at the Congress core group meeting which was attended by party chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, defence minister A.K. Antony, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, too, attended the meeting while Union finance minister P. Chidambaram could not as he is in the US.
Deputy CM Damodhar Raja Narasimha, while talking to reporters, exuded confidence that the central leadership would grant Telangana statehood.
Emphasising that the issue has been referred to the CWC, he said this clearly shows that the high command has made up its mind to favour Telangana. When pressed further, he said, “I am an optimist. Any major decision of the party is taken by the CWC and that is the standard position of the party. We are optimistic. We are hopeful. We expect a decision very soon.” CM Kiran Kumar Reddy remained incommunicado all through the day. But prior to the core committee meeting he did call on party supremo Sonia Gandhi and briefed her on the political situation in the state.