HYDERABAD, NOV. 26. The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president, Sonia Gandhi's word on Telangana will be final and an agreement on this count has already been reached between the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Congress, according to the AICC in-charge of the State, Digvijay Singh.

Mr. Singh, who arrived here today after a three-day visit of Rayalaseema, said the AICC had already initiated the consultation process on Telangana with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partners. He himself had conferred with the TRS president, K. Chandrasekhara Rao, recently. Mr. Rao would meet Ms. Gandhi soon to discuss the matter, he said. "Meanwhile, there is no question of setting deadlines and if the TRS wants to walk out on us, it is entirely up to the party," he asserted.

The decision to continue the alliance with the TRS in the local body elections would be the prerogative of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) and the AICC would not have any say in it, he said. The PCC would decide on the basis of its evaluation of the situation, he added.

Irrigation tenders

Giving a clean chit to the Congress Government on the irrigation tenders issue, he said the department had only followed an established and accepted norm of pre-bid qualification. After all, the Telugu Desam Government had introduced the system earlier. If only two companies were selected initially it was due to tough conditions but due to relaxation of a couple of rules, a few more were accommodated, he said.

Moreover, the Government was following the court's directive and there was no need for any apprehensions as alleged by the Opposition on corruption. World-class norms always demanded stringent conditions, he said.

The AICC was not concerned with the controversy over the letters of the Vijayawada MP, L. Rajagopal, he added.

Nominated posts

On the issue of filling of nominated posts, he said the State Level Coordination Committee of the party to be constituted within a month would select the candidates. The process was delayed due to the appointment of a new PCC president. The committee would have guidelines and consult him and his deputy, Jeyak Kumar, for finalisation of the list, he said. One more committee would also be constituted to oversee the implementation of the election manifesto, he said.

Naxal talks

He endorsed Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy's stand that minor incidents of confrontation with Maoists by the police would not obstruct the ongoing peace process. Mr. Singh later met the Chief Minister along with the PCC president, K. Keshava Rao, to discuss organisational matters. Senior leaders of the party met him.