New Delhi, February 24: Telangana slogans reverberated in Parliament once again on Wednesday as Congress members from the region sprang a surprise on the government in the Lok Sabha, by not only lending noisy support to the BJP and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti but also threatening to commit suicide if a separate State wasn’t granted.
The same 11 Congress MPs had made their intentions clear two days ago when they waved placards in the Central Hall after President Pratibha Patil’s address to the joint session of Parliament.
Congress floor managers were caught napping as they failed to anticipate the mood of their own MPs who did not want the TRS and the BJP to be the sole flag bearers of the Telangana cause.
TRS MPs K Chandrasekhar Rao and M Vijayashanti set the ball rolling when they marched into the well of the House minutes after the House met.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had hoped for a smooth session after accepting the demand for a JPC on 2G scam.
In a damage control exercise, senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel arranged a meeting between Congress MPs from Telangana and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee after which Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal promised a “serious” discussion on Telangana after the General Budget was presented.
Earlier, as Congress MPs Poonam Prabhakar, M Jagannatham, Madhu Yaskhi Goud and others shouted slogans from their seats, seizing the opportunity to score a political point was Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj who asked the government to table the Telangana bill in this session itself. Speaker Miera Kumar adjourned the House twice hoping that two breaks would help restore order but it did not work.
Law Minister M Veerappa Moily was not impressed by the MPs’ behaviour and said they should build trust instead of confrontation.
Citing procedures, he claimed the process had to start from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly.
–Agencies