11 Dec : Andhra Pradesh plunged into a fresh political crisis on Thursday with 93 MLAs and a MP belonging to Congress resigning in protest against the Centre’s decision to carve out a separate Telangana state.
The legislators submitted their resignation to Assembly Speaker Kiran Kuamr Reddy, a day after the Centre announced that steps will be initiated for the formation of Telangana State.
Expressing concern over the centre’s decision, Congress Lok Sabha member L Raj Gopal and TDP floor leader in Rajya Sabha Mysoora Reddy have tendered resignations in Delhi.
Addressing a press conference, the speaker said he would talk to each member personally before taking final decision on the resignations.
Stating that 53 Congress MLAs, 29 from TDP and 11 from Praja Rajyam have tendered their resignations, he said he would act as per the rule book on the resignations.
Andhra cabinet has decided to abide by the decision taken by the Centre on Telegana issue in the wake of protests the others parts of states. During two hour long meeting Chief Minister has explained the situation to cabinet colleagues.
Meanwhile the Congress on Thursday welcomed the centre’s decision to initiate the process of forming a new state of Telengana.
Party spokesman, Abhishek Singhvi said that the stand of the Congress has been consistent on the issue as has been stated in the Common Minimum Programme.
He said, the BJP and the Left parties were earlier opposed to the demand for a separate Telengana state, but the government’s decision came after the recent emerging consensus on the issue.
He said, the success, however, has to be first translated into a resolution. Replying to a question on the reported resignation of MLAs in Andhra Pradesh, Singhvi said that this is an emotive issue.
He said, there can be differences but the Congress knows how to deal with it and will cross the bridge when it comes to it.
On the question of whether the centre’s decision will lead to the opening of pandora’s box as there are demands for carving out other new states, Singhvi said that it is in no way linked to this decision in terms of both the objectives and the definitions and rejected the concept of linking these issues even remotely.
While the BJP has urged the centre to come up with a roadmap for carving out the proposed state of Telangana.
Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Thursday, BJP spokesperson Venkaiah Naidu alleged that the ruling Congress party has not even taken its own members in confidence.
When asked about the status of Hyderabad being included in Telangana, he evaded a direct reply and said that the decision is for the government to take.
Replying to a question on the party’s stand on the demand of smaller states in some other parts of the country, Naidu said that the party will consider it on case to case basis.
Centre invites Chandrasekhar Rao to Delhi on Telengana issue
The Government on Thursday told Parliament that TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao has been invited to New Delhi for talks to discuss the next step in the formation of separate Telengana.
The BJP has welcomed the announcement while the CPIM opposed the decision saying that it would fuel demands for smaller states.
Home Minister P Chidambaram said in the Rajya Sabha that the Government had to take an urgent decision in view of the situation in Andhra Pradesh, which witnessed widespread violent protests over the demand for Telangana state.
“I am happy to inform the House that by and large normalcy has been restored in Hyderabad,” Chidambaram said.
He said he had spoken on Thursday morning to Rao, who was on fast-unto-death for 11 days over the Telangana demand, and invited him to Delhi to discuss the next step.
Rao, who ended his fast late Wednesday night after the Centre’s announcement, thanked all sections of the House for resolving the issue.
Earlier, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu took exception to Chidambaram announcing the Telangana decision outside Parliament though his party welcomed carving out Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.
Responding to it, Chidambaram said he could not have waited to make the announcement as the government could “brook no delay” against the backdrop of the situation in the state.
In any case, he said, Wednesday night’s announcement was a “re-statement” of the earlier decision of the government.
In the Lok Sabha, Leader of House Pranab Mukherjee said all processes regarding formation of a separate Telangana state will be “fully followed”.
Hyderabad has emerged as a bone of contention with Telangana leaders insisting that it should remain with their region while those from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema opposed it being ceded to the new state.
The meeting comes close on the heels of Congress MP from Vijayawada Lagadapati Rajagopal resigning from his seat in protest against the Centre’s decision to bifurcate the state and carve out a separate Telangana.
Rajagopal met Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar and handed over his resignation, sources said.
Talk in Congress circles is that some more MPs are unhappy and may follow the footsteps of Rajagopal.Reports from Hyderabad spoke of a number of Congress and TDP MLAs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions threatening to resign to protest against the division of the state.