"Telangana row: PM, Sonia, Rahul and other Congress leaders meet but decision unlikely, say sources"

Uma Sudhir, Edited by Deepshikha Ghosh, ndtv.com, July 12, 2013, New Delhi : The Congress' top decision making body, the core group, which includes Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president Sonia Gandhi, has begun its meeting to discuss demands for a separate Telangana state, but sources tell NDTV the party may not announce any decision today." 

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi is also attending the Congress core group meeting. Ahead of the meeting, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy separately met Sonia Gandhi, along with top state leaders.

Pro-Telangana parties say they want nothing less than a separate state financial packages or other sops won't do.  

To add to the Congress party's dilemma, its own leaders from Telangana are firmly backing a separate state. Congress MP V Hanumantha Rao today said if the party did not take a decision soon, the people of Telangana would be shattered.

TRS leader KT Rama Rao, who broke away from the UPA in 2006 over the issue, says there is no reason to believe that the Congress will go ahead with a separate Telangana, going by past record.

The BJP has also challenged the Congress. "In the 2002 Lok Sabha polls, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi promised Telangana within one year. The BJP believes when the NDA comes to power, the dreams of the people from Telangana will come true," said BJP's Capt Abhimanyu.

On the other hand are protesters from the coastal and Rayalaseema regions, who are opposing Telangana. Anti-Telangana groups have called a bandh today.