Consultation process on Telangana still on: Sushil Kumar Shinde

New Delhi: Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on Wednesday refused to give any fresh deadline for making any announcement on Telangana, saying discussion on the issue was still on. "Consultation process is still on," he told reporters when asked whether the Centre has set any fresh deadline on Telangana issue.

A decision on the Telangana statehood demand was deferred on Sunday with the Centre and Congress saying there was need for "further consultations" which will take a "little more time". Shinde had on December 28 declared that government would make an announcement on separate statehood issue within a month. The deadline ended on Sunday.

"On Telangana issue, consultation process is on. It may take little more time to reach a final decision," Shinde had said in a brief statement on Sunday. The Home Minister, who returned from Dhaka on Tuesday evening, said that during his two day visit to Bangladesh, an extradition treaty and a revised travel agreement were signed with the neighbouring country.

Shinde had on December 28 declared that government would make an announcement on separate statehood issue within a month.

Asked when ULFA 'general secretary' Anup Chetia could be extradited to India, Shinde said the insurgent leader was in a jail in Dhaka but "we have discussed his case too". India has been pressing for Chetia's deportation since long. The ULFA leader has been in a Dhaka jail following his arrest in 1997 on the charge of entering Bangladesh without valid documents.

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