Ghulam Nabi Azad formula envisages a Telangana Regional Development Council which may not be palatable to those agitating for the separate state as they say the experiment of such a council earlier was shortlived. The formula contemplates an economic package and carving out a separate union territory of the Greater Hyderabad, comprising twin cities and 35 satellite towns. Gulam Nabi Azad will be discussing this formula with the APCC on November 11th when he will be in Hyderabad

The party is all set to adop a 3-point formula submitted to Congress president Sonia Gandhi last month end by Andhra incharge general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, a union health minister, after two months of consultations with the Congress leaders of the state.

The Congress had taken no stand when the Home Ministry had convened a meeting of the national and state parties to discuss the demand of Telangana. Once the party announces its stand, the Home Ministry will convene an all-party meeting to discuss the Justice Srikrishna Committee's report on the Telangana issue.

The Congress is understood to have veered round not to accept as of now  the demand for bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create a separate state of Telangana and instead propose a regional development council on the lines of such councils for Vidarbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra.

He also had a meeting with Sonia on Tuesday to give clarifications. His formula may be vetted by the Congress core group any day after the Prime Minister returns from SAARC summit in Maldives on Saturday, before taking a public stand. "We may declare our stand by next Tuesday," a top party source said.

So far the centre and the Congress have adopted delaying tactic on the issue even despite the intensified agitation in the Talangana region of Andhra Pradesh and a score of MPs and MLAs submitting resignations, but they find themselves in a constitutional jam if they push away the decision another further.

The Andhra Pradesh assembly has to be convened by December 3 or it automatically stands dissolved under Article 174 of the Constitution which requires that there should not be a gap of more than six months between the last sitting in a session and the first sitting in the next session.

The upcoming Parliament session from November 22 has also brought pressure on the Congress to take the decision since the political parties are bound to stall both the Houses on the issue of Telangana and the drama of resignations by the MPs is also bound to take place.

Azad also went on record in a chat with reporters here on Tuesday after meeting Sonia Gandhi that the decision was delayed due to festivals but "we will not delay it any further."