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Resignations fly over Telangana
Telangana protestors on Thursday beat up a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and damaged public property, as legislators and MPs from the region unleashed a flurry of resignations to protest the Centre’s decision to put the statehood issue on hold. See popup
Telangana protestors on Thursday beat up a Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and damaged public property, as legislators and MPs from the region unleashed a flurry of resignations to protest the Centre’s decision to put the statehood issue on hold.
Eleven Congress MPs faxed their resignations to party president Sonia Gandhi in protest against Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statement calling for wider consultations on the statehood issue.
Chidambaram had said consultations with all political parties in the state were needed in view of their divergent opinions.
Political circles in New Delhi were rife with speculation that the Centre could consider setting up a second States Reorganisation Commission or impose President’s Rule.
Congress sources, however, ruled out both possibilities. “It is baseless and born out of a fertile imagination,” said a senior leader who did not want to be named. “We’ve given a commitment on Telangana,” he said, adding that an SRC was not immediately on the agenda.
Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy confirmed he had received 24 resignation letters from MLAs of various parties on Thursday.
In New Delhi, MPs from the state demanded a fresh statement reiterating the central government’s commitment to the creation of a Telangana state.
Madhu Yaskhi, part of a delegation of MPs who met Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel on Thursday said Patel had assured them there would be no deviation from the party’s stand on Telangana. Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K. Chandrasekhar Rao and party MP Vijayashanti faxed their resignations to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.
Students at Hyderabad’s Osmania University and the Kakatiya University in Warangal continued protests through Wednesday night.
At Osmania, protestors beat up TDP legislator Nagam Janardhan Reddy saying his party’s reluctance had contributed to the Centre putting the issue on the backburner.
