Major political parties, including the Congress and the Telugu Desam, have agreed to join forces with the Forum for Protection of United State at the field level in taking the agitations in support of Samaikyandhra forward.
A meeting of the political parties, however, failed to arrive at a broad consensus on forming a joint action committee, cutting across political lines.
Representatives of the Congress, the TDP, the CPI (Marxist) and the Lok Satta Party felt that formation of a JAC at this juncture was a time-consuming process.
Minister S. Sailajanath and MP Sabbam Hari (Congress), MPs Y. S. Chowdary, K. Narayana Rao and C.M. Ramesh and MLAs K.E. Prabhakar and P. Keshav (all TDP), Y. Venkateswara Rao and S. Veeraiah (CPI (M)) and Katari Srinivasa Rao (LSP) attended the all-party meeting convened by the forum here on Saturday.
While the Congress and the TDP had expressed willingness to join hands with the agitating employees, students and other sections, the CPI (M) and the LSP said they preferred to continue independently with their ongoing struggle.
Split in partiesThe meeting felt that there was no use of forming a JAC of political parties as there was a split in the parties at the regional level.
Accordingly, it was decided to form coordination committees at the district level involving the elected representatives as well as the agitating employees and other sections for carrying forward the struggle.
The participants appreciated the efforts of the MPs who served no confidence motion and disrupted the proceedings in the Parliament claiming their effort had restrained the Centre from moving forward.
It was decided that all the 158 MLAs from the Seemandhra would file affidavits against bifurcation and this would be forwarded to President Pranab Mukherjee along with the views of the legislature.
“We are hopeful that the President will reconsider the decision once he witnesses the widespread opposition to the division,” Mr. Sabbam Hari said.
Dr. Sailajanath said the Seemandhra MLAs and other elected representatives would call on the President shortly to explain him about the concerns of other regions, while Mr. Keshav stressed the need for effective floor coordination in the Assembly to ensure that all the MLAs voiced their view against bifurcation. Forum chairman P. Ashok Babu said political issues did not figure in the meeting and the deliberations were confined to forging a common strategy. The forum would finalise the future course of agitation soon, he said exhorting the parties to be prepared for taking forward the movement against bifurcation.
YSRC’s broadsideOn the all-party meeting, YSRC leader Mysoora Redddy he said with the TDP and the Congress that do not subscribe for the united AP concept being invited to the meet, the YSRC had decided not to share platform with them.
“We did not find a reason to share dais with the TDP and the Congress which are committed to division,” he said.
