The Telangana all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Wednesday resolved here to continue the agitation “peacefully without causing hindrance to the people” till the Centre announces a clear-cut time-frame for the formation of the separate State.
It denounced the charge made by some political parties that the Maoists had infiltrated the pro-Telangana stir and said if this was so, the bandhs, rail-rokos, various agitations and students rally held at the Osmania University in Hyderabad recently would not have been held peacefully. This was nothing, but to bring a bad name to the Telangana movement the JAC said. When the Andhra Pradesh government claims that naxalism had been wiped out in the State, how could the Maoists have joined the stir?
The meeting, convened by JAC chairman Professor C. Kothandaram, was attended by MPs, MLAs and MLCs of Congress, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and Praja Rajyam Party representatives from the Telangana region.
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Congress MP from Nagarkurnool M. Jagannath, a member of the JAC, dismissed the allegation that the Maoists had any role to play in the protests. The left wing extremists were not present in the State anymore, and in fact, former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had even received an award in Delhi for wiping them out. “It is ridiculous and absurd to make such an allegation,” Dr. Jagannath said.
Earlier TRS president K. Chandrasekhara Rao met Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and asked him to speed up the process for Telangana. Mr. Rao described the meeting as “satisfactory” and added he had planned to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too. About Tuesday’s all-party meeting, Mr. Rao said it was a pleasant meeting and that he was satisfied.
Praja Rajyam Party president actor-politician K. Chiranjeevi too met Mr. Chidambaram and asked him not to bifurcate the State at any cost. He also apprised the Minister of the “deteriorating” law and order situation in the State and urged him to ensure that the current academic session of various universities was not affected by the stirs.
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“We also raised the issue of film shooting schedules going haywire due to the current tense situation prevailing in the State,” he told journalists. If tension continues to prevail, the film production units will be forced to shift to Chennai, he feared.
Meanwhile, a group of Congress MPs, MLAs and Ministers from Andhra-Rayalaseema region met Mr. Chidambaram and conveyed the decision of the JAC to 13 universities from their regions to end the agitation. The delegation was led by Andhra Pradesh Minister G. Venkat Reddy and consisted of Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari and Eluru MP K. Sambasiva Rao among others.
Vijayawada Congress MP L. Rajagopal demanded a referendum in whole State to feel the pulse of people on the Telangana demand if no consensus emerged. He said he would make every effort and continue to press for a united Andhra Pradesh come what may.