Hyderabad, December 26: Telangana Congress leaders continued to build pressure on the party high command for a firm commitment on creation of a separate State.
A day after the MLAs put in their papers, 13 Telangana ministers in the Rosaiah Cabinet on Friday gave up their posts. They faxed a joint resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and conveyed the same to Chief Minister K Rosaiah and PCC president D Srinivas.
Though the ministers had earlier decided to submit their resignations to the Chief Minister directly and send a copy to Sonia Gandhi, they changed the plan because the move is being seen more as a pressure tactic. In a separate representation to Rosaiah, the ministers urged him to impress upon the Central leadership the need to ‘‘clarify’’ doubts that arose in the wake of the second statement made by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on the Telangana issue.
Apparently, the ministers did not have a choice. Back in their constituencies, they had been under tremendous pressure from students and Telangana protagonists to quit to prove their commitment to the separate statehood demand.
In fact, the residence of Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah in his home town Warangal was attacked by Telangana supporters.
Speaking to newsmen, Lakshmaiah admitted as much saying people of Telangana felt betrayed and were livid over the changed stance of the Centre.
‘‘Ministerial positions are not important for us,’’ he declared. According to him, all that they wanted from the Centre was a clarification that it stood committed to its December 9 statement in favour of the creation of a separate State. It should also set a time-frame for the process of carving out a separate State, he added.
Rosaiah reportedly counselled the ministers against resigning but they did not budge. The ministers and MPs may travel to Delhi in the next few days for a meeting with Sonia. Speaking on behalf of the MPs, Madhu Yashki Gowd said all issues relating to the division of the State could be discussed between leaders of different regions. ‘‘But, it is unfair to put the demand on the back-burner because of pressure from a section of the elected representatives,’’ he averred.
Friday remained relatively peaceful across the region as bandh was relaxed in view of Christmas. The Joint Action Committee on Telangana declared that there would be no more bandhs till Dec 28. Hyderabad, December 25 TELANGANA Congress leaders continued to build pressure on the party high command for a firm commitment on creation of a separate State.
A day after the MLAs put in their papers, 13 Telangana ministers in the Rosaiah Cabinet on Friday gave up their posts. They faxed a joint resignation letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and conveyed the same to Chief Minister K Rosaiah and PCC president D Srinivas.
Though the ministers had earlier decided to submit their resignations to the Chief Minister directly and send a copy to Sonia Gandhi, they changed the plan because the move is being seen more as a pressure tactic. In a separate representation to Rosaiah, the ministers urged him to impress upon the Central leadership the need to ‘‘clarify’’ doubts that arose in the wake of the second statement made by Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on the Telangana issue.
Apparently, the ministers did not have a choice. Back in their constituencies, they had been under tremendous pressure from students and Telangana protagonists to quit to prove their commitment to the separate statehood demand.
In fact, the residence of Major Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah in his home town Warangal was attacked by Telangana supporters.
Speaking to newsmen, Lakshmaiah admitted as much saying people of Telangana felt betrayed and were livid over the changed stance of the Centre.
‘‘Ministerial positions are not important for us,’’ he declared. According to him, all that they wanted from the Centre was a clarification that it stood committed to its December 9 statement in favour of the creation of a separate State. It should also set a time-frame for the process of carving out a separate State, he added.
Rosaiah reportedly counselled the ministers against resigning but they did not budge. The ministers and MPs may travel to Delhi in the next few days for a meeting with Sonia. Speaking on behalf of the MPs, Madhu Yashki Gowd said all issues relating to the division of the State could be discussed between leaders of different regions. ‘‘But, it is unfair to put the demand on the back-burner because of pressure from a section of the elected representatives,’’ he averred.
Friday remained relatively peaceful across the region as bandh was relaxed in view of Christmas. The Joint Action Committee on Telangana declared that there would be no more bandhs till Dec 28.
–Agencies–