Panchayat Raj Minister K. Jana Reddy has said that Ministers from the region would not hesitate to resign and keep away from contesting in the next elections, if the Centre did not make an announcement on Telangana.
“We will meet the party president Sonia Gandhi and submit our resignations. But, we will work wholeheartedly for the success of candidates selected by the central leadership. This should convince the high command about our commitment to the statehood cause,” Mr. Jana Reddy said remarked at the ‘Telangana Sadhana Sabha’ at the Nizam College here on Sunday.
His response came after a pointed question by Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar on what will the Ministers do if Centre did not concede the Telangana. Former Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy went a step further to seek the Ministers’ resignation in such an eventuality.
The meeting observed two minutes silence in memory of those who ended their lives for the Statehood cause. Civil Supplies Minister D. Sridhar Babu in his introductory remarks said Congress was always committed for the statehood cause.
Protests by MPs inside and outside the Parliament came in for appreciation while other leaders predicted impressive performance for the party in the Lok Sabha elections, once Telangana was conceded.
Former Home Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, Md. Ali Shabbir, former Speaker K. R. Suresh Reddy, over three dozen MLAs and MLCs, PCC and DCC leaders attended the meeting.
Protests
Activists of little known outfit ‘Telangana Azad Force’ created a flutter by displaying posters critical of the ruling party leaders. Some youths displayed handwritten posters asking the Congress party not to cheat people and stop its drama. One poster termed Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi as ‘cheater’s for not conceding Telangana.
Some of them brandished footwear to warn the Congress leaders about the consequences of not securing Telangana. Police whisked them away. Later, a youth hurled footwear towards the dais when Mr. Jana Reddy was speaking but police nabbed and whisked him away.
