Telangana will take time: PM

HYDERABAD: On Board PM’s Special Plane: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday sent Telangana spirits plummeting by saying on foreign soil that a quick decision on separate statehood was difficult and would take “some time”.This pours cold water on Telangana groups’ anticipation that the Central government had become vexed enough by the Sakala Janula Samme and would give in to the demand.Returning from his 3-day visit to South Africa, Manmohan Singh was asked by journalists on board his plane why the Centre has been dithering on taking a decision on Telangana.“Well there is no inaction,” said the PM.There were difficulties in arriving at a “win-win” solution for all stakeholders.“Efforts are being made to find a solution, which would bring about a broad-based consensus among various stakeholders,” Singh said.“Telangana movement has a long history.It has been there since the mid-fifties,” he said.“Given the complications involved, it will take some time and that’s why we have been engaged in a widespread discussion with all the stakeholders..” Decoded, the PM’s parsed statement means: No, not yet.It indicates that the Centre’s thoughts on the issue are snagged on a win-win solution, meaning a protection of the real and perceived interests of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.Telangana groups are likely to go into a swoon knowing that the Centre is still looking for a please-all solution to a deeply riven issue.The PM’s late night statement came as a downer to the leaders of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) who had been considerably buoyed by L K Advani’s statement earlier in the day pledging his party’s unequivocal support for bifurcation of the state.The BJP veteran brought his anti-corruption yatra to Hyderabad by way of the Telangana districts on Wednesday, saying all along the way that the BJP’s 116 Lok Sabha and 50 Rajya Sabha MPs would fully support a Telangana bill if only the Congress had the guts to introduce one in Parliament.“If only Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh took a decision, Telangana state will be a reality by Jan.1, 2012,” he said in a meeting in Hyderabad.