NEW DELHI: Union home minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday hoped that the four political parties of Andhra Pradesh - Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and the YSR Congress - would clear their stand on the issue of a separate state of Telangana paving the way for an all-party meet at the end of December.The BJP, Telangana Rashtra Samiti, CPI and CPM have already taken a stand on the issue."We expect that the remaining four political parties, including the Congress, will be able to make up their mind say before end of December to enable me to call an all-party meeting of all Andhra Pradesh parties as early as possible."That is the progress that I can report. I am confident that they will make up their mind by December," Chidambaram said at the monthly press conference here.Talking about the possible dates for convening the all-party meeting, Chidambaram hinted dates in early January. "I cannot give you a date. But I sincerely hope that it will be possible for me to call an all-party meeting of the eight parties say in December or early January 2012."I sincerely hope so. Two earlier meetings were held on 5th of January 2010 and 6th of January 2011. January looks like a good month...," he added.In the previous monthly press conference, the home minister had said that any progress towards a decision on Telangana issue would take place only after Eid on November 7.The issue of Telangana has the Congress in a bind as the party is yet to clear its stand on the demand for a separate state. Minister for health and family welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad has already submitted his report after spending the last few months touring the state and meeting with representatives of the three regions of AP - Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana. But instead of recommending any concrete measures, the minister is believed to have called for more consultations.
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