By IANS,
Hyderabad: The all-party Joint Action Committee (JAC), fighting for statehood to Telangana, Tuesday served an ultimatum to the central government to make a clear announcement on carving out the state by Jan 29, failing which MPs and legislators would press for acceptance of their resignations.
After a marathon meeting, the JAC set the new deadline and decided to intensify the movement for a separate state.
JAC convener Kodanda Ram told reporters that if the centre failed to make an announcement on formation of Telangana by Jan 29, all elected representatives of the region from village level to the MPs would resign en masse.
The MPs and state legislators, who submitted their resignations last month, would press the speakers of the Lok Sabha and the state assembly to accept the resignation letters.
Cutting across party lines, 10 out of 16 MPs and 77 out of 119 legislators from the region last month submitted their resignations to mount pressure on the centre.
The JAC, which comprises the ruling Congress, main opposition Telugu Desam Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and other parties, also decided to hold hunger strike camps from Jan 16 to Jan 28.
The JAC passed a resolution appealing to people to hoist the Telangana flag on every house and hold rallies and meetings in every village. It said films of only those actors opposed to formation of Telangana state should be boycotted.
Differences also cropped up in JAC with non-political groups targeting political parties for their “double standards” on the issue. They argued that the goal of Telangana state could not be achieved without causing a political crisis.