At least the ray of hope brightened for the people of Andhra Pradesh with the Centre seriously trying to resolve the contentious Telangana issue at the earliest. The hectic activity going on at Delhi has brought an air of expectation in people, even as a deadline for consultations on the Telangana issue ends today.

For long, activists and political leaders from the Telangana region, cutting across party lines, have been demanding that a separate Telangana state be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. People from other regions of the state oppose the move as vehemently. On Saturday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said, "The consultation process within the Congress is still going on. I think we will be able to complete the process by Monday." He, however, refused to set any deadline for the resolution of the Telangana statehood crisis.

But there is pressure on the Congress for a time-bound announcement of its position and sources say there are still differences on the issue within the party. The party rules Andhra Pradesh and Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy discussed the various options for a solution to the Telangana issue with Mr Mukherjee on Sunday. He returned to Hyderabad yesterday, but Mr Mukherjee, who has now assumed the role of UPA's chief Telangana negotiator, continued his discussions with party colleagues. Actor and Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi is expected to join the discussions today.

The crisis has crippled normal life in the region; protests against party leaders have been taking place now for almost a month. Even the house of Congress' pro-Telangana Cabinet minister S Jaipal Reddy was attacked, reportedly by Telangana activists, 24 hours after he met Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the issue. Leaders in the state are hoping that the Centre will find a win-win formula which is acceptable to pro-Telangana leaders as well as leaders from the coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions of Andhra.