Congress MPs from Telangana on Monday staged protests inside and outside Parliament demanding an early decision on the separate State issue.
As Parliament resumed its sitting after a brief recess, Congress MPs Ponnam Prabhakar, G. Vivekananda, S. Rajaiah and Manda Jagannath first squatted at the members’ entrance in Parliament carrying placards. They raised slogans demanding creation of a separate State.
Later, they attended the Lok Sabha and joined other parties in stalling the House. The MPs carrying placards trooped into the well demanding early creation of Telangana. A TDP MP also raised a similar demand in the well. While the other opposition parties insisted that the Lok Sabha take up a debate on the Delhi rape case and other issues, the Telangana Congress MPs wanted a discussion on the statehood issue.
Interestingly, only four Congress MPs joined the protest while two others – Gutha Sukhender Reddy and Komatireddy Venkata Reddy -- did not attend Parliament. The other MP, Madhu Yaskhi Goud, could not attend due to a bereavement in the family.
Protest ridiculed
TDP MP Ramesh Rathod ridiculed the Congress MPs’ protest saying that their number was dwindling by the day.
“First, as many as nine MPs raised the separate Telangana demand but only seven resigned. Now only four MPs are left of which three are planning to quit the Congress and join the TRS. If this is their commitment, how can they achieve Telangana,” he remarked to journalists.
