Telangana Cong MPs, MLAs put resignations on hold

The Telangana issue assumed centrestage on Thursday night as Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily held consultations with Congress members of Legislative Assembly and members of Parliament. Though a lot of hope was pinned by the Telangana leaders on this meeting there was no decision taken on issue of statehood, say insiders.

However, the mass resignation programme by these elected representatives will be put on hold till the assembly elections in five states -- Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Puducherry -- conclude, which is mid-May.

During the meeting, Moily urged the elected representatives to put on hold their decision to resign from their posts in their demand for a separate Telangana state. "The Congress is presently focusing on the assembly elections. We are working out a solution for Telangana and this would be done immediately after the assembly elections. Hence, I urge all of you not to act in haste and wait for the elections to be completed," he said.

The Congress leaders from the Telangana region did not argue much on this assurance and have decided to hold back their decision to step down from their posts. Hanumanth Rao, an MP from Telangana, said after this meeting that there will no resignations. "As of now as we believe that the government in New Delhi will take a decision on Telangana at the earliest," he said.

The MPs, however, decided to keep their protest alive in Parliament.

On Friday, they attended the Parliament with a ribbon tied on their mouths as a reminder to the government that they will not raise their voices on the issue, but their demand is very much alive.

However, protests from the Telangana Rastriya Samithi are expected to continue. They have now decided to fight the battle outside Hyderabad. TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao and MP Vijayashanti, who staged several protests in New Delhi, have now returned to Hyderabad and will be meeting with the political Joint Action Committee to decide on the further course of action.

The JAC has organised a massive programme known as the Stall Hyderabad programme in which 10 lakh people from the Telangana region will squat on the roads of Hyderabad.

The JAC is, however, not pleased with the meeting that the Congress leaders held with Moily. They say that they are not concerned with the law minister's assurances and will have to take the movement forward at any cost. A meeting will be held between the JAC and TRS soon, which will chalk out the future course of action.