Congress core committee meeting on Telangana - Live updates

The three top leaders from Andhra Pradesh—Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayna and Deputy CM Damodar Raja Narasimha presented their respective roadmaps to the core meeting committee members at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence in New Delhi.

There's an air of tension and uncertainty in AP awaiting the outcome of the Core Committee meeting. Citizens are curious to know what decision the Congress will take on the 60-year-old issue.
This is the first meeting on Telangana that AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi is attending. The meeting is on...keep a watch on this column for updates...

• Finance Minister Chidambaram gives meeting a miss due to his foreign tour, while Rahul Gandhi makes his debut appearance in a crucial meeting that will decide party fortunes in Andhra pradesh in the upcoming elections.
• It is learnt that PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana and CM Kiran Reddy arrived at the PM's residence from AP Bhavan in the same vehicle
• Those present at the meeting include—AICC president Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi, A.K. Antony, Ahmed Patel, Sushilkumar Shinde, Digvijaya Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Botsa Satyanarayna and Damodar Raja Narasimha.
• Several members of the OU JAC and SJAC students, who converged outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 7 Race Course Road residence in New Delhi demanding the state to be divided and united respectively, were detained by the police.
• Security beefed up around AP Bhavan in Delhi
• Deliberations on
• Decision after three months..it's not easy to decide, no concrete decision will be taken in this meeting TG Venkatesh
• Closed door meeting on for more than a hour, media waiting to catch any person coming out of the room
• Reports says experts too are part of the meeting
• Newly appointed in-charge of party affair in state, Digvijaya Singh said there was no point delaying the issue anymore...time was ripe for declaration
• Core committee meeting is seen as a move by the Congress party to revive party fortunes in Andhra Pradesh
• Even as Telangana becomes a hot topic in the political circles, experts in the state are expecting one of these outcomes from the meeting..Possible options before Congress.

  1. Concede to Telangana

  2. Buy time for further study

  3. Rayala Telangana

  4. Expert committee to submit report on issue

  5. Special package for Telangana

• Latest reports suggest that roadmap presentation on the issue over. The three leaders from Andhra Pradesh who were entrusted with the responsibility of preparing a roadmap for Telangana after consulting leaders of different parties have submitted their respective reports to the core committee panel
• It is learnt that Deputy CM Damodar was the first to present his roadmap followed by CM Kiran Kumar Reddy and PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana. CM- He presented about one hour, Deputy CM- 35 minutes and Botsa- 40  minutes
• Will this be the last meeting on Telangana?
• What happens to Andhra Pradesh capital? Will Hyderabad be made capital of Telangana state as demanded by pro-Telangana activists?
• Will the congress declare Hyderabad a union territory?
• It's learnt that Deputy CM Damodar while presenting his roadmap explained that pro-Telangana activists want nothing less than a separate state - special package or sops won't do. 
• Deliberations completed..Congress core committee members wind up meeting.
• Meeting lasted for nearly two hours
• Latest reports coming in suggest that CM Kiran Reddy, Botsa and Deputy CM Damodar Raja Narasimha left for AP bhavan in separate vehicles
• Sources say that Botsa and Kiran Reddy explained to the core committee the problems that could arise if the state was divided
• Speculation is rife that congress is likely to hold an all-party meet once again before taking a final call on the issue
• The latest report suggest that although the members from state have come out of PM's residence, the Central leaders are still deliberating over the issue
• It is learnt that the top leaders of the state have been asked to keep the minutes of the meeting confidential and not disclose anything to the media
• Besides the Telangana issue, the core committee group also discussed strategies for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it is learned
• Digvijaya Singh to hold a media conference in a few minutes.
• "The core group met CM, deputy CM and the PCC president to take a final view. Therefore now, the Congress party will discuss the issue with the congress working committee and soon take a decision," said Digvijaya Singh after meeting.
• "Today, we attended the core committee. The ground reality and party position everything has been discussed in the meeting," Damodar Raja Narasimhasaid.

- Reshmi, Siva