Telangana Congress MPs put off resignation decision

Seven Congress MPs from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh put off their decision on Tuesday to forward their resignation -- both from Lok Sabha and the party -- by a day, as they reportedly could not iron out differences among themselves on the issue.

They, however, told reporters on Tuesday afternoon that they would go ahead with their move and reach New Delhi on Wednesday to submit their resignations to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

The MPs said they received a call from Congress leader and Union Minister Vayalar Ravi asking them to come to the national capital to discuss the Telangana issue.

"Reports that there are differences among us and also with the ministers from Telangana are not true. Our sole aim is to secure statehood for the region and we shall go forward with our plan unitedly," MPs Ponnam Prabhakar, Gutta Sukhender Reddy and others maintained.

The MPs announced on Monday that they would forward their resignation, along with a letter explaining the reason for it, to Gandhi.

But, some of the Parliamentarians were said to have disagreed with the decision as leaving the party would not serve any purpose and could even prove counter-productive.

The ministers' decision not to quit their posts now also prompted the MPs to do a re-think, party sources said.  

Amid these reports and also the decision of Telangana Joint Action Committee to target the Congress leaders, the MPs met at the residence of former MP K Keshava Rao for the second day on Tuesday.

They later came out with the announcement that they have decided to take the "harsh step" as the party was still dithering on the statehood issue.

"There is no way we can continue in the Congress party. There is a reason for our resignations. The reason is our party and its top leaders," Keshava Rao said.

Prabhakar pointed out that they remained loyal to the party all through but now felt totally let down. "If the party government in Andhra is surviving today, it is only because of the MLAs from Telangana. They remained loyal to the party even while fighting for a separate state. But now we are compelled to take a harsh decision."