Hyderabad, December 29: In what appears to be an orchestrated move, Congress MPs from the Telangana region, true to their word, launched a hunger strike here on Monday morning demanding rollback of cases booked against students who had taken part in protests both for and against a separate State of Telangana. The State government conceded their demand partly by withdrawing an additional 135 cases within hours after the MPs’ set up their protest camp.
Their sudden decision to go on a fast is being perceived as a well thought out strategy, a brainchild, of the Congress leadership itself.
Its purpose appears twofold: Regain lost ground in Telangana and contain the possible “damaging fallout” of Justice Srikrishna Committee’s report on Telangana due to be submitted on Dec 31. Without forewarning, the MPs and Congress leaders went into a huddle on Sunday night and decided to launch a hunger strike from Monday, even though the issue of withdrawal of cases has been hanging fire for the last one year. The reasons for the ‘fast” decision are not far to seek. With the Telangana Rasthra Samiti (TRS) already stealing the thunder in espousing the cause of Telangana and given the unmistakable signals emanating from YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s camp of a tacit electoral understanding between him and TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress high command is understood to have decided to put in place its own strategy to at least keep its flock together in Telangana districts.
Pointing at the lightning speed of the developments, reliable sources in the Congress said, “within hours of the eight MPs going on fast, the state government is seized of the issue. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy reviews the situation. Minister K Jana Reddy and Basavaraju Saraiah approach the Chief Minister on behalf of the fasting MPs. An hour later, the government announces lifting of 135 cases against students. It was all done at the behest of the high command.” What is worrying the Congress leadership, the sources said, is not only the TRS but also Jagan Mohan Reddy. After Justice Srikrishna Committee’s report, Jagan Mohan Reddy might ask one or two MLAs in Telangana who owe allegiance to him to resign. In such an eventuality, the cadres of the Congress might prefer Jagan because of his pro-Telangana stand.
“Given its inability to shed equivocation on Telangana, the party high command has to dream up something else and the result was the fasting by MPs,” the sources said.
–Agencies