It is not new for the Congress to manipulate things when it is required. Now it is not in a position to go back from the 9 December 2009 announcement in respect of Telangana and at the same time not also in a position to comply with it in a hurry. Going by the party's maneuvers since last week, it is very likely that it may opt to use partners of the UPA to stymie the prospects of a new state for the time being.

The most likely and useful among the UPA partners is Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress which is apprehensive about pressure to carve out Gorkhaland from West Bengal in case the Center agrees to create a separate Telangana state. And it is very likely that the Congress will use Mamata Banerjee's services to bring the process of creating Telangana state to a halt, say the highly informed sources. It is for this reason that Pranab Mukherjee has been brought to the forefront for the settlement of the the Telangana issue. Pranab, who is from West Bengal, has close ties with Mamata Banerjee.

The Congress bosses in Delhi have also realized that the general strike in the state which has now completed almost a month is not likely to subside in a jiffy and slowly but surely things are going to get worse. Buying more time also seems a herculean task now. The sources also say that no strong arm action is expected because that will spoil the show for the Congress and lead to the situation going out of hand. For the effect, however, both the police and the AP chief minister are going to talk tough from now onwards.