What's cooking between TRS and Congress?

It was reported that senior legislator Gade Venkat Reddy of the ruling Congress met TRS leader Harish Rao the other day.

When Harish Rao sought Venkat Reddy's blessings for the formation of a separate Telangana state, he is supposed to have responded by saying that he was a champion of the united A.P. cause. Venkat Reddy is believed to have been accompanied by Congress MLCs, K.R. Amos and Jagdishwar Reddy.

Harish Rao is reported to have said that the TRS was prepared for a merger in the Congress if a separate Telangana state was granted. Venkat Reddy was supposed to have said that nothing is likely to happen till 2014, to which the TRS leader is reported to have said that his party had its own action plan in case nothing happened in the next one or two months.
When a Sakshi reporter asked Harish Rao the other day about the meeting in question, he denied that it had ever taken place.

What are we supposed to make of all this?

On the one hand, the Congress has been maintaining a discreet silence on the Telangana tangle. On the other, the TRS claims that it has received positive signals on the complex Telangana issue. Perhaps the Congress sees no option but to seek the merger of TRS as a face-saving formula especially in the light of the results of the NDTV survey. The Congress stands to lose in all regions, while the TRS is certainly a force to reckon with in the Telangana region. YSRCP, as the survey revealed, is all set to storm the Congress citadel, and this is giving many a congressman, sleepless nights. If the Congress party has to contend with both the TRS in the Telangana region and the YSRCP all over the state, it faces  complete decimation. As the Congress sees it, it makes political sense to tie up with the TRS to save a semblance of the foothold it has in the state. For that, it would have to grant Telangana.

As things stand, the Congress is no state to dictate terms, but is putting on a brave face. Is Telangana in the offing? The answer to this, would be a discreet but big yes, from the most reluctant congressman under the circumstances.

-observer@sakshipost