As Congress MLAs and MPs went on a resignation spree protesting the move to create a Telengana state, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday night held discussions with senior leaders on the developments.
After the meeting, party sources said they were not unduly worried over the developments and hoped a consensus would be arrived at amicably.
The meeting, held at the residence of Gandhi at 10 Janpath, lasted for about 20 minutes and was attended by Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram, A K Antony, M Veerappa Moily and Gandhi's Political Secretary Ahmed Patel.
Sources said Gandhi and the leaders took stock of the situation. Upset with the central government's decision on the creation of separate Telengana state, 52 Congress MLAs and two MPs on Thursday resigned with several more indicating that they could follow suit. Prior to the high-level meeting, Gandhi received a delegation of party MPs from non-Telengana regions of Andhra Pradesh and assured them that any final decision would be taken only after considering all views.
A total of 18 MPs from the Andhra and Rayalseema regions of the state, including late Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's son Jagan Mohan and three Union Ministers Panabaka Luxmi, D Purnadeswari and A Sai Prathap met Gandhi to express their opposition to the bifurcation of the state. The party MPs also held a late night meeting with Moily who is also incharge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh. PTI
