New Delhi, July 30 (IANS): The top Congress leadership, including party chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, supported the creation of Telangana state at the specially convened meeting Tuesday of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), said informed sources here.

According to the sources, the prime minister said the decision was required for the development of the entire Andhra Pradesh region.

Sonia Gandhi, who opened the discussion at the CWC meet, gave the historical perspective behind the issue, saying the election manifesto of the Congress in the 2004 Andhra Pradesh elections referred to the demand.

She said formation of a separate Telangana state was also mentioned in the common minimum programme of the United Progressive Alliance-I in 2004. The presidential address to the joint session of parliament in June 2004 also referred to it after consultation and building of a consensus.

Sonia Gandhi said it was the long standing demand of large sections of the people of Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh for a separate state in order to better fulfill their social, economic, political and other aspirations.