Telangana Congress MPs snub Pranab

Congress MPs from Telangana have decided to boycott finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to protest what they called “humiliation meted out to them” by the UPA troubleshooter last month.

Congress MPs from Telangana have decided to boycott finance minister Pranab Mukherjee to protest what they called “humiliation meted out to them” by the UPA troubleshooter last month.

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As part of their protest, the Telangana MPs did not attend Mukherjee's briefing of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting on Thursday, a day after the government decided to suspend its move of allowing 51% foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

A group of Congress leaders from Telangana told HT that Mukherjee had summoned the MPs to his chambers in Parliament on November 24 where he allegedly gave them a dressing down for disrupting the Lok Sabha proceedings.

He also told them that they had caused major embarrassment to the party by giving an impression that the Congress leadership was pushing them to disrupt the House as it did not want discussions on price rise and black money issues.

An MP said Mukherjee threatened to suspend them “if they don’t behave”. But the MPs told the minister that it would be tough for them to remain silent when TRS members created ruckus over Telangana.

They told Mukherjee that they cannot move in their constituencies and called for a decision that would be in the party’s interest. The MPs had also boycotted a November 30 CPP meeting briefed by Mukherjee.