Telangana lawmakers threaten to quit

The Government of India's decision to take a second look at the formation of a separate Telangana led to protests in the region on Thursday, with 82 of the 119 members of the Andhra Pradesh legislature from the region as well as 11 of the 12 Congress members of Parliament threatening resignation, the newly-formed all-party joint action committee calling for a shutdown and studends of the Osmania University in Hyderabad clashing with the police.

Eighty-two MLAs from the Telangana region, belonging to the ruling Congress, the main Opposition Telugu Desam and three other parties, decided to resign in protest against the Centre backing down on its decision to initiate the process of the formation of a separatre Telangana in the face of violent protests in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema against division of the State.

Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader K Chandrasekhara Rao, whose fast unto death forced Home Minister P Chidambaram to make the first announcement on Dec 9, conceding the Telangana demand, termed the Minister's latest statement, made in New Delhi on Wednesday and calling for wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders as an act of betrayal.

Mr Chidambaram justified the first statement on the ground that it was based on the consensus that emerged at a meeting of all parties of the State called by Chief Minister K Rosiah on Dec 7 in favor of a separate Telangana.

Referring to the outbreak of protests in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema against the formation of a sepatate Telangana State, he said this had divided political parties on regional lines, forcing the Centre to rethink.

The Telangana leaders did not take kindly to this reversal of the stand by the Centre.

The MLAs from Telangana met separately in Hyderabad and decided to submit their resignations to Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy in protest against the Centre putting the issue on the backburner.

While 39 of the MLAs who have decided to resign are from TDP, 30 are from Congress, 10 from the TRS, two from Praja Rajyam and one from the BJP. In the 294-member Assembly, Telangana region accounts for 119.

In a related development 11 out of 12 Congress party MPs from the Telangana region on Thursday decided to resign to protest the Central Government's move.

Congress MP Madhu Yashki Goud from Nizamabad and MP Ponnam Prabhakar from Karimnagar said all party MPs from the region would meet at the residence of Nalgonda MP G Sukhender Reddy in New Delhi to decide whether to submit the resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi or Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar.

Mr Goud alleged that MPs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, including Central Ministers, defied the party's decision on the Telangana issue and resorted to blackmail tactics.

He blamed the group loyal to Kadapa MP Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy for creating the crisis. "The same people who earlier tried to blackmail the party are responsible for this situation," he said, referring to Jaganmohan Reddy's attempts to become Chief Minister after his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's death in a helicopter crash.

The Nizamabad MP alleged that K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, Rajya Sabha member and close aide of the late chief minister, was behind the mass resignations of the legislators from Andhra and Rayalaseema after the Dec 9 statement by Mr Chidambaram to initiate the process of forming a Telangana State.

The Telangana region has 17 members in the Lok Sabha. They include 12 of the Congress party, two each of the Telugu Desam party and Telangana Rashtra Samiti and one of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM).

Both the TRS MPs,including party chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao, have already sent their resignations to the Lok Sabha speaker.

The newly formed Telangana Political Joint Action Committee, consisting of leaders of all major parties, including the Congress, from the region initially called for a 48-hour shutdown. It later announced that the shutdown would be confined to Thursday in view of Christmas on Friday. Almost all Telangana districts witnessed violent demonstrations.

Meanwhile, protesting students clashed with police at Osmania University and other places in Hyderabad.

One student was injured when police fired rubber bullets and baton-charged protestors at Osmania University. Hundreds of students gathered at the university which was the nerve centre of pro-Telangana protests during the 11-day agitation early this month.

Students went on the rampage on Wednesday night itself, burning buses and trucks. In Basheer Bagh area in the heart of Hyderabad, students of Nizam College clashed with police.

The students pelted stones when police stopped them from heading towards the State Assembly building. The police responded with cane charge, injuring four students.

Finding the situation in Telangana turning volatile, the Government of India on Thursday rushed additional para-military men to Andhra Pradesh. Ten companies of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were airlifted, taking the total strength of the CRPF to 38 companies or 4,000 personnel.

- Asian Tribune -