Telangana Cong MPs 'shocked' by PM's statement

Voicing disappointment over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh favouring consensus on separate Telangana demand, Congress MPs from the region on Sunday sought intervention of party president Sonia Gandhi in the issue.

"People of Telangana are shocked and feeling betrayed over the PM's comments as we have made a commitment earlier," Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud told PTI in Hyderabad on Sunday.

He said consensus may never be possible on the Telangana issue as the non-Telangana regions are bigger in size.

"The protests and campaign being held in the non-Telangana regions in support of keeping Andhra Pradesh united are orchestrated. If majority voice is heard, the minority may never get justice," he said.

Goud said Sonia Gandhi is the "only hope" for the Congress leaders from Telangana and they would soon meet and urge her to instruct the government to take steps for formation of separate Telangana state.

The Telangana Congress MPs are meeting on Monday to firm up their strategy on the issue, he said.

The prime minister said on Saturday that a decision on Telangana would be taken on the basis of a consensus and nothing would be done in a hurry that would create trouble in other regions.

"Telangana is a complicated matter. We want consensus where all shades of opinion will feel what is best. We cannot solve Telangana by agreeing to Telangana and there are disturbances and unrest in other parts," he had told journalists on board his special plane while returning from Maldives on Saturday.