New Delhi, January 07: After the Srikrishna report was released on Thursday, Congress MPs from Telangana are keeping the pressure on the party, threatening to resign if they don’t get statehood.
Congress finds itself in a bind over Telangana and has promised to act on the Srikrishna report within a fixed time frame.
Within moments of the Srikrishna committee report being made public, Hyderabad, the epicentre of the Telangana agitation saw loud protests from TRS.
In Delhi, the Congress faced protests from its own MPs. Madhu Yakshi Gaud told India at 9 that he was committed to the Telangana cause and would be forced to resign if the separate state did not become a reality.
“The people of Seemandhra doesn’t care whether the state is divided or not,” said Madhu Yakshi Gaud.
But as news came in that Gorkha Janmukti Morcha had decided to intensify its agitation for a separate Gorkhaland state, the Centre’s worse fears seem to be coming true.
Congress at the centre is worried that a Telangana state could inspire similar demands for separate states elsewhere as well – an argument also being given by those within the party insisting on an unified Andhra.
But having indicated a separate Telangana state on December 9, 2009 and with Sonia Gandhi herself assuring such a state, its difficult for the congress to backtrack completely, Therefore it is trying to buy time.
Congress core group will meet soon and allies will have to be taken on board. But more importantly, Congress top leadership has to achieve a consensus within its own party first.
——–Agencies