Hyderabad, November 16: Congress MPs from Telangana have asked their party leadership to announce a firm decision in favour of the separate state failing which they will be forced to resign as Parliament Members and quit the party.
The MPs held a meeting here on Monday and discussed the fallout of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent statement that Telangana issue was a complicated one and needed a national consensus.
They said they were prepared to face the elections, if need be. They would use the winter session of Parliament to convey their feelings to the Congress high command.
The MPs were understood to be discussing the possibility of setting a deadline, probably December 9, for the party high command to announce its stand and to address a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. In their over two-hour deliberations, the MPs opined that Dr. Singh’s statement had led to ‘anxiety’ and sent jitters among the people of the Telangana region.
Dr. Singh’s statement, coupled with the earlier remarks by All-India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesperson Rashid Alvi on the second States Reorganisation Commission had led people to believe that the Congress had betrayed them yet again.
“We will not allow Parliament to function until the Centre and the Congress high command announce their decision,” K. Keshava Rao, MP, said.
The MPs were, however, undecided over the course of action that should be adopted in this direction claiming it could not be finalised in advance. “Our action will be spontaneous based on the developments in Parliament,” Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki said.
“The statement made by Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on December 9 was drafted at the Prime Minister’s residence. Did the Prime Minister forget the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) manifesto or the resolution passed by the Congress Working Committee? Is he not aware of the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA-I,” Dr. Keshava Rao asked.
–Agencies