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Paragodu: PCC rules out Sonia intervention

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD June 20. The APCC has taken a "conscious'' decision not to endorse the State Government's move to involve the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in the exercise to resolve the inter-state controversy on the Paragodu project.

The issue was discussed threadbare at a meeting attended by the PCC president, M. Satyanarayana Rao, the CLP leader, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and other senior leaders at Gandhi Bhavan on Friday. The meeting preceded the second all-party meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu.

At the end of the all-party meet, it was officially announced that Ms. Gandhi pleaded inability to meet the delegation from the State on Paragodu. Instead, she suggested that the delegation meet senior party leader, Manmohan Singh.

It is not clear whether Ms. Gandhi's decision not to meet the delegation was based on consultations with the PCC leadership. But the PCC leaders, at the meeting during the day, took the stand that no purpose would be served in the delegation meeting Ms. Gandhi.

Party sources said the implications of Ms. Gandhi not meeting the all-party delegation were discussed in detail. It was decided that the party should stick to its earlier decision of limiting the consultations to resolve the Paragodu issue should be confined to only "constitutional heads.''

``Even if Ms. Gandhi agreed to meet the delegation, the Chief Minister would not refrain from politicising the inter-state dispute. The Congress president is not the competent authority to sit in judgement over the dispute. Therefore, we have decided that Congress members of the official delegation should meet only the constitutional heads'', a party leader pointed out.

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