The all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the Congress formally snapped ties on Friday with both of them declaring separately that they would have nothing to do with each other in the struggle for statehood.
It was the Congress that fired the first salvo announcing its decision to quit the JAC as the latter’s condition of asking MLAs to resign was not acceptable. The JAC later said it was also not keen on a friendship with Congress since the party had distanced itself from people of Telangana who were firm that resignation by public representatives was the only way to mount pressure on the Centre to concede separate Telangana. About the Telugu Desam (TDP), which has maintained a low profile with JAC in the last few days, the committee’s convener M. Kodandaram told presspersons that a final view would be taken after speaking to its leaders. The TDP had taken the stand that its MLAs would resign only after their counterparts from Congress quit.
Denying that the JAC had become weak after differences over the issue of resignations, Mr. Kodandaram said the committee was still strong and would carry on its programmes with several people’s organisations that were part of it. He also denied that the JAC would be a mere extension of TRS minus the Congress and the TDP.
On their part, the Telangana Congress leaders declared plans to take up parallel programmes from the village level to achieve statehood. Briefing reporters after a meeting of elected representatives here, K. Jana Reddy, MLA, said they condemned attacks on Congress leaders’ houses by JAC cadres.
Misbehaviour
Broad-based village to State-level committees would be set up to take up independent programmes on the statehood issue and petition the Srikrishna Committee.
