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Telangana Congress MLAs to quit?

Any such action could create problems for the Rosaiah government

HYDERABAD: Trouble is brewing in the Congress as some MLAs from Telangana are in a belligerent mood and are planning to resign to protest against the terms of reference (ToR) of the Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee.

A dozen MLAs and MLCs led by former Minister R. Damodar Reddy met here on Friday evening when they expressed thorough disappointment with the committee’s terms of reference and resolved to go to any extent, including bringing down the government, to press the Centre to revise the ToR. They claimed that some Ministers were contemplating quitting the Cabinet.

Any such action could create problems for the Rosaiah government in the budget session of the Assembly that will commence on February 15. The Congress has a strength of 156 in the 294-member House and if these resignations are accepted, the government will lose its majority, though it may not fall immediately.

However, only eight out of the 50 Congress MLAs from Telangana attended the meeting after which they resolved to defer their plans till Saturday. They were unanimous in their view that the committee’s mandate to examine the demands for separate Telangana as well as the one for maintaining the present status of united AP nullified the spirit of Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s statements on December 9 and 23.

A section of the MLAs intend to submit their papers in the prescribed format leaving no scope for the Speaker to reject them as he did earlier.

“Our idea is to create a constitutional crisis in the State by tendering our resignations and force the imposition of President’s Rule,” a senior MLA said. However, they felt there was no need for the MPs to resign as they had to raise their voice in Parliament.

It is understood that there is no unanimity yet among the ruling party MLAs over the move to resign. An MLA from Warangal is said to have questioned the need to resign and embarrass the government. Some others were wary of toeing the line adopted by certain hawkish Congress leaders.

Adding credence to the differences of opinion, former Home Minister K. Jana Reddy went on record in Nalgonda to state that resignation was not the solution. Mr. Reddy, who was gheraoed by pro-Telangana activists at Halia, declared that he was among the contenders for the post of Chief Minister if separate Telangana was formed. Government Chief Whip Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka faulted the moves to resign on the ground that they were never a solution in a democracy and would only complicate the situation.

Meanwhile, five Ministers -- Jupally Krishna Rao, K. Venkata Reddy, P. Sudarshan Reddy, D.K. Aruna and V. Sunitha Lakshma Reddy -- held an informal meeting where they were reportedly reluctant to take any decision that would invite the ire of the central leadership.

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