Senior Telangana leaders bid adieu to YSRC

Say they failed to get satisfactory answers on whether the resignations of 16 MLAs were personal or party stand

Former MLA Konda Surekha interacting with media persons after meeting YSR Congress party honorary president Y.S. Vijayamma in Hyderabad on Saturday. Photo: Special Arrangement

In a major setback to the YSR Congress, senior leaders from Telangana snapped ties with it after failing to get convincing answer from the honorary president Y. S. Vijayamma on the resignations tendered by 16 MLAs.

Senior leaders from the region, Konda Surekha, Konda Muralidhar Rao, K.K. Mahender Reddy, Jitta Balakrishna Reddy, Ravindra Naik, Kommuri Pratap Reddy and Raj Thakur Singh held second round of consultations with Ms. Vijayamma at the Lotus Pond residence here on Saturday. The talks did not yield any positive result as the leadership could not satisfactorily answer the apprehensions raised by the seniors. The YSR Congress leadership declined to make any public statement reiterating the same stand it has spelt out during plenary in Idupulapaya. Telangana YSR Congress leaders questioned why they were not taken into confidence if the MLAs had decided to resign citing the indifferent attitude of the Congress on the statehood issue. Sources said the YSR Congress leadership tried to convince the Telangana leaders that their Seemandhra counterparts too have some problems due to which, they may have tendered resignations. Failing to get positive reply, the Telangana Congress leaders led by Ms Surekha said that they could not get satisfactory answers on whether the resignations were personal or party stand. “We will decide the future course of action shortly,” she said adding that the Telangana YSR Congress leaders did not want to be an obstacle when the statehood issue was being settled.

They told the leadership that they could not adjust in a party, which did not respect their sentiment. A senior leader told

The Hindu that they got an impression that party leadership knew about the intentions of the MLAs to resign. “The YSR Congress fared poorly in Telangana during panchayat polls and this must have prompted it to consolidate its position in Seemandhra to protect its interests,” the senior leader remarked. “It is a fact that many parties have approached us since yesterday asking us to join them. We have our own image in the respective constituencies and it will not be difficult for other parties to cash in on our popularity,” a senior leader remarked.