Thursday, Dec 26, 2013
Hyderabad: Amid growing apprehensions about the fate of draft Telangana state bill, three senior Telangana ministers on Thursday called on Telangana Rashtra Samiti President K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) and discussed the stalemate with him.
Telangana ministers K. Jana Reddy, Basavaraj Saraiah and Uttam Kumar Reddy met KCR as Seemandhra leaders continue to mobilise their strength to delay the debate on the bill in the state assembly. The ministers met KCR ahead of his meeting with President Pranab Mukherji later in the day.
Sources said that KCR was going to submit a memorandum to the president seeking his intervention to ensure that the state reorganisation bill was passed by the parliament at the earliest so that the Telangana state becomes a reality.
As part of the drive against the bill, YSR Congress president YS Jaganmohan Reddy on Thursday called on Mukherji at Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted a memorandum. He also handed over an affidavit of his party’s legislators (MLAs), all belonging to the Seemandhra region, against bifurcation of the state.
Interestingly, some Telangana supporters tried to block the path of Jaganmohan Reddy’s convoy. The police took them in to custody. One of the protesters had his head and beard half-shaven, as a mark of protest against the Seemandhra leaders.
Later talking to the reporters Jaganmohan Reddy said that besides his party MLAs, Telugu Desam MLAs, including party president N. Chandrababu Naidu, should also submit affidavits to the president in support of united Andhra Pradesh.
Charging Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and other leaders of ruling Congress party with hoodwinking the people, he demanded that the assembly should pass a resolution in support of united Andhra Pradesh.
“We will not support any debate on the state reorganisation bill in the state assembly”, he said.
Meanwhile, there was complete suspense over the next move of the chief minister who was under pressure from several Seemandhra leaders of Congress party to float a new party.
Amid speculations of many Congress leaders quitting the party over Telangana issue, senior party leader from Anantapur J.C. Diwakar Reddy called on the chief minister. Later talking to reporters, he said he had no idea of the future plans or what he was going to do after January 3, when the assembly session will resume.
Diwakar Reddy has caused a furore by directly attacking the Congress president Sonia Gandhi and asking her to retire. He also announced that he was also retiring from electoral politics and will not contest the next elections from Tadipatri constituency in 2014. His son was planning to join YSR Congress party and younger brother Prabhakar Reddy has already joined Telugu Desam.
“If Congress does not find any candidate to contest from Tadipatri in next elections, the state Congress president Botsa Satyanrayana should contest”, he said.
There are speculations that several other important Congress leaders including ministers TG Venkatesh, E. Pratap Reddy and Ganta Srinivas Rao were also planning to quit the party and join either YSR CP or Telugu Desam.
By Mohammed Siddique Correspondent
Gulf News 2013. All rights reserved.
