NEW DELHI: With mounting speculation that the Centre could be tilting towards creating the separate state of Telangana, a delegation of Congress legislators drawn from other parts of Andhra Pradesh on Monday urged Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde to maintain the status quo.

The lawmakers — from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhya Pradesh — who also met Congress's point-persons for the state — Union ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad and Vayalar Ravi — argued that bifurcation of the state will ruin its economy.

The delegation's trip coincided with growing indications that the Centre, which appeared to have junked the option of conferring statehood on Telangana, could be looking at the option afresh. The Centre had appeared to have conceded to the demand for Telangana in December 2009 before it dramatically retraced its steps. The appointment of Srikrishna Committee to debate the issue was seen as aimed at delaying a decision.

However, the Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) abrupt dropping of the anti-statehood ante and the Centre's declaration that it would take a decision on the vexed issue one way or the other by January 28 strengthened the estimate of a re-think in favour of Telangana.

Congress sources have confirmed that sheer political considerations ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls have impelled the leadership to consider splitting the state. Although AP with 42 seats favoured Congress in two Lok Sabha and state polls, it has been hobbled by a combination of factors — incumbency, revolt by Y S Rajshekhar Reddy's son Jagan and the strong possibility of a rout in Telangana region at the hands of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). This perception, fortified when the Srikrishna Committee came up with recommendations, seemed to be loaded against statehood for Telangana.

A school in the Congress says it can dig itself out of the political hole by creating the separate state of Telangana, arguing that the attendant goodwill can help the party sweep the region either on its own or in alliance with the TRS. Those who have come around to support the statehood also feel that TDP's decision not to oppose Telangana should buffer Congress against any backlash.

They concede the possibility of YSR Congress benefiting from any resentment against the bifurcation of AP in Rayalaseema and Andhra regions, but point to the possibility of a future alliance with Jagan Reddy. Status quo could be an alternative that would leave the party marooned.

Although the reasoning has found takers, it has not trumped rival considerations — especially the possibility of repercussions for the growing clamour for the separate state of Gorkhaland. Although the demand for the separate state of Vidarbha also goes back to several decades, it lacks the intensity that the Gorkhaland campaign has frequently packed in, and that too in a strategically sensitive region.

But as the Centre races against the January 28 deadline, passions for and against Telangana seem to be roiling AP, forcing the government to hold a special review meeting with authorities last week. The meeting, featuring the chief secretary, police chief and head of state intelligence, focused on how to deal with possible flare ups in the aftermath of whatever decision Centre takes by next Monday.

While members of delegation from Andhra and Rayaseema regions argued on Monday that a partition would ruin the state, votaries of Telangana were gathering here to make their own pitch. The delegation is set to meet Shinde and other senior leaders on Tuesday amid indications that they bluntly tell the Centre that the region would not brook a repeat of December 2009 when the Centre raised hopes of Telangana only to smother it.