Congress MPs from Telangana have criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for adopting double standards on the Telangana issue.
The BJP's attempts to gain political mileage over the Telangana issue was evident from the support extended to the MPs' suspension from the Lok Sabha by the party's national leaders in contrast to the clamour by State leaders on their efforts to carve out a separate State. The divergent approach came to the fore with BJP State president G. Kishan Reddy's decision not to quit his post, the MPs said.
The MPs, Ponnam Prabhakar, Manda Jagannatham, G. Vivekanand and others, were participating in a meet-the-press programme organised by the Telangana Journalists Forum here on Tuesday.
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Mr. Prabhakar also criticised AICC spokesperson Renuka Chowdary for her comment that formation of separate State was not like “instant coffee”. Saying that her remark had prompted a youth to commit suicide, he said Ms. Chowdary could not claim to belong to Telangana.
Evading a direct reply to a question whether they still reposed faith in the Congress high command, Dr. Jagannatham said there was pressure from the Seemandhra leaders against formation of separate Telangana, but they were hopeful that the party would make an announcement shortly.
Mr. Prabhakar said the MPs would not compromise on anything short of separate Telangana since neither a package nor the proposal for Rayala-Telangana would convince the people. The MPs would meet in New Delhi on Wednesday.
