Congress legislators from Telangana region are redrawing strategies in the wake of a serious difference of opinion on locking horns with the high command over the issue of tendering resignations before January 28.
Caught in a fix, with the party high command issuing a serious warning directing the legislators to immediately withdraw their resignations and not to precipitate the situation, the leaders are sitting down to redraw their strategies and find a way out, party sources said.
There are fissures in the Congress on the issue of resignation, with a section of its Telangana leaders denouncing the move while the other firm on it. Senior MLA K. Jana Reddy said at the JAC meeting two days ago that they would break away from the party “if need be.”
Jana Reddy’s statement prompted other senior Congress leaders from the region to launch an attack on the JAC, stating that a conspiracy was being hatched against the Rosaiah government. “How will the resignations be a solution to the problem, at a time when the process for creation of a separate state has begun,” Government chief whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said. He said Telangana could become a reality only if there were stable governments at the Centre and in the State.
Some Congress MPs, MLAs and MLCs met here to discuss the resignations issue even as the party high command sent clear a directive asking them to withdraw their papers at once. Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president D. Srinivas called MLAs, who are taking an active part in the Telangana Political Joint Action Committee, and reportedly conveyed the high command’s directive.
Of the total 52 Congress MLAs in the region, about 25 have submitted their resignation letters to Assembly Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy but they were yet to be accepted. Ten other MLCs have also put in their papers.
Senior MLA R. Damodar Reddy who is taking an active part in the JAC, however, asserted that they were firm on the resignations. “We will meet again on January 17 to take a further decision in this regard. The January 28 deadline the Joint Action Committee set for the Centre to come out with a concrete decision on granting statehood to Telangana holds good. There is no question of going back on it,” Mr. Reddy said.
Senior MP Sarve Satyanarayana said Telangana state could not be achieved through resignations. “Causing a political or constitutional crisis will in no way help the Telangana cause. Those who have resigned from their posts are enemies of the party,” he observed.
Warangal MP M. Rajaiah on Friday said the process for creation of a separate state would be seriously affected if a constitutional crisis arose in the state. “People should be wary of the campaign that the Telangana process will be hastened through resignations. It is a misnomer,” he said.
