Besides, the Congress President Sonia Gandhi has also reportedly decided to change leadership in the state. With this decision, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will be asked to resign. A senior Congress leader from the Telangana region will be crowned as Chief Minister of the state. It was also decided to replace Pradesh Congress President Botsa Satyanarayana. Another party leader from Coastal or Rayalaseema regional will be appointed PCC President.

Kiran Kumar Reddy was already summoned by party high command. He is reaching Delhi on Thursday evening. According to sources close to AICC, he will be asked to submit his resignation on Friday. After submission of his resignation, Home Minister Shinde is likely to announce government’s decision on Telangana state.

According to reliable sources, the Home Ministry has already sent a note for the consideration of the cabinet committee on parliamentary affairs warning the government against formation of separate Telangana state. According to the home ministry, formation of a new state would create huge surge of demands from elsewhere which will be very difficult to contain.

According to a note, “the choice is between containing a localised agitation and rushing to contain several agitations spread across various states, including sensitive regions from the security point of view. The wise choice would be to contain a single localised agitation.”

It may be recalled that at the all-party meet conducted with the representatives of all recognised political parties from Andhra Pradesh, on December 28, Shinde promised to reveal government’s decision on Telangana issue in a month’s time. Since then, he has been conducting hectic consultations.

Apart from political aspects, he is also looking into possible issues that could crop up in irrigation, power and other infrastructure sectors. He summoned senior government officers from Hyderabad to Delhi to discuss these aspects in detail. Till now, in the last few decades no such serious efforts were seen from Government of India to take a decision on this critical issue. As Shinde is leaving for Bangladesh on January 27, on an official visit, he is preparing ground to announce government’s decision before his departure.