By IANS,
Hyderabad : A day after the Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker rejected the resignations of 101 legislators from Telangana, those belonging to opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Sunday decided to again submit their resignations while Congress leaders still remain undecided about their future course of action.
Taking the lead once again, TDP rebel legislators N. Janardhan Reddy, Harishwar Reddy, Venugopala Chary and Jogu Ramana Sunday faxed their resignations to the office of assembly speaker.
At a meeting of Telangana TDP Forum, all legislators of the party from the region decided to again submit their resignation. “We have decided to again submit our resignations,” TDP leader E. Dayakar Rao told reporters after the meeting.
All 11 MLAs of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) have also decided to submit their resignations again.
In a decision announced Saturday night, speaker N. Manohar rejected resignations of 101 legislators, who had quit early this month.
Manohar’s decision evoked strong reaction from opposition parties and groups fighting for separate statehood to Telangana. TDP termed it a conspiracy by Congress party while TRS and rebel TDP legislators alleged that leaders from seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra regions) were behind the conspiracy.
The Congress party leaders went into a huddle to chalk out their future course of action following the speaker’s decision. The leaders at a meeting held at state minister K. Jana Reddy’s residence reportedly voiced divergent views. While a section of leaders wanted to submit their resignations again, the others suggested that they
should wait for the outcome of talks with the party’s central leadership.
According to Congress party sources, some leaders of the party are ready to wait for two months for a decision by the leadership.
The steering committee of the Congress leaders will meet Sunday evening to take a final decision on the issue. The meeting will also decide on the stand to be taken during talks with party general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi Monday.
Meanwhile, Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) convenor M. Kodandaram has termed the speaker’s decision as unconstitutional. He said it was the speaker and not the legislators who took the decision in an emotionally charged atmosphere.
TDP rebel leader N. Janardhan Reddy told reporters that he was planning to challenge the speaker’s decision in the Supreme Court. He alleged that the speaker acted as a representative of Seemandhra leaders and himself was afraid of separate Telangana state becoming a reality.
TRS MP Vijayshanti targetted Congress leaders, saying they were not sincere in achieving the goal of separate state.
In a statement issued Saturday night from the office of state legislature secretary, the speaker said he was rejecting resignations of all 101 lawmakers from Telangana as they were tendered in emotionally charged atmosphere.
The lawmakers who resigned early this month consisted 47 of ruling Congress, 37 of TDP, 11 of TRS, four of Communist Party of India (CPI) and two of the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP).
Telangana region accounts for 119 seats in the 294-member assembly. The resignations were aimed at creating a constitutional crisis and forcing the central government to take a decision on carving out a separate state.
Interestingly, the speaker’s decision was announced through the office of legislature secretary soon after he boarded a flight to London to attend a Commonwealth speakers’ meeting. He is likely to be away till the middle of August.
Reacting sharply to the speaker’s decision, TRS leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao said his party legislators would submit their resignations again. He said they would continue to do so till their resignations are accepted.
TRS legislator Harish Rao termed the rejection of resignations as a “conspiracy against Telangana”. He said the speaker’s decision was unilateral as he had not even consulted the legislators.