Stepping up the pressure being mounted on the Centre to take an early decision on Telangana, both Lok Sabha members and all 11 MLAs of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi took an unexpected decision on Tuesday to submit their resignations.
Even as Telangana has gone off the boil due to a near-total bandh, TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao (Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha constituency) and the former actor, Vijayashanthi (Medak), faxed their resignations to Speaker Meira Kumar. Party MLAs too resigned, the second time in the present Assembly.
In New Delhi, Telugu Desam MPs Nama Nageswara Rao and Ramesh Rathod also called on Ms. Kumar and tendered their resignations.
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Falling in line with the trend, all four MLAs of the CPI and two of the BJP, including State president G. Kishan Reddy, handed over their resignation letters. The lone CPI (M) member in the Assembly, J. Ranga Reddy, took the line that resignation by MLAs of non-Congress parties would serve no purpose. Minister P. Shankar Rao also put in his papers as MLA.
The number of MLAs who have put in their papers now stands at 99 (out of 119 in Telangana). Twelve Ministers and 14 MPs, including a Rajya Sabha member, too have resigned. Differing with their stand, a majority of MLAs and MPs from Hyderabad refused to resign and, consequently, their houses became targets of angry demonstrations by Telangana activists.
Osmania University students fought pitched battles with police on the campus throughout the day, though the bandh elsewhere in Telangana was largely peaceful. Police fired several rounds of teargas and resorted to lathicharge when the students became unruly. They were protesting against the arrest of rebel TDP leader Nagam Janardhan Reddy while on his way to meet fasting student leaders in the university.
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Telangana Congress leaders looked expectantly towards New Delhi to the outcome of the discussions between AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ministers K. Jana Reddy, Ponnala Lakshmaiah and MPs. Mr. Reddy later said they had asked the central leaders to resolve the issue immediately. “They are trying to find a solution and have asked us to stay back in Delhi for two or three days,” he added.