The Centre is to convene an all party meeting to discuss the Telangana issue. The Home Minister P. Chidambaram said this in New Delhi on Friday.

He expressed concern over the 18-day long agitation and appealed to protestors to withdraw their strike saying that it will cripple the economy of the state.

The issue of a separate Telangana state was also discussed at a meeting of the Congress core group at the Prime Minister's residence in New Delhi.

The meeting was chaired by Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi. It was attended by senior party leaders including Defence Minister A K Antony, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister P Chidambaram.

AIR correspondent understands that the core group discussed the report on the Telangana issue submitted earlier in the day to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi by Party General Secretary and In charge of Andhra Pradesh Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Mr. Azad, had interacted with party ministers, MPs, MLAs and MLCs from Telangana, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of the state on the statehood demand before finalising his report.

AIR Hyderabad correspondent reports that the Andhra Pradesh government has taken a number of steps to mitigate the sufferings of the common man due to continuous strike.

Meanwhile, normal life in Telangana region continued to be affected due to the ongoing General Strike by state Government employees, Singareni Coal Workers and Teachers.

Andhra Pradesh state Government has been making efforts to reduce the impact of the strike that entered 19th day today.