Congress meet casts its shadow on secretariat

• Staff, leaders glued to TV sets to watch Delhi developments
• Polarisation of employees on regional lines at Secretariat

Hyderabad: Congress Core Committee meeting convened on Telangana issue in New Delhi showed its reflection in Andhra Pradesh Secretariat as well as in Gandhi Bhavan on Friday. Hundreds of employees in the Secretariat were seen discussing the results of Congress Core Committee meeting and its repercussions. The employees were divided on their respective lines and were seen discussing for and against Telangana and United Andhra Pradesh. This type of discussion was witnessed not only in the canteen, but also in various departments. But, many of them showed interest to talk about the Delhi development and enquired about the developments from their friends who were watching various channels. Some of them who could access television sets were seen glued to it. N Sankara Rao, a section officer said, "It is quite natural to discuss about the Delhi developments because it would decide their future and that of Andhra Pradesh". He said that employees too gathered regional wise and participated in the parleys. The department of finance, animal husbandry, irrigation, home, social welfare and geology and mines department were some of the departments where the T issue was the only subject of discussion throughout the day. Interestingly, T-Employees JAC leaders staged dharna at Gunfoundry demanding the Centre to take a decision in favour of Telangana. Padmachari, general secretary of Secretariat Employees Association, said that it is a fact that many employees showed curiosity on the outcome of the meeting of Congress Core Committee. It is quite common to show such interest on such developments, he added. With most of the leaders from both the regions having air dashed to New Delhi, the Gandhi Bhavan was left with second rung leaders were seen watching TV and talking to their leaders in Delhi to find out the developments. Senior Congress leader Nandi Yellaiah spent some time watching TV in Gandhi Bhavan. Spokesperson's Mahesh Kumar Goud and Umesh Rao expressed hope that the deputy chief minister D Rajanarasimha will make a powerful presentation at the core committee meeting.