With reports of the Congress central leadership likely to announce its decision on Telangana after the end of the ongoing Parliament Session, party MPs from the state are gearing up to present their case before the Congress Core Committee. While MPs hailing from Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions met on Monday and decided to represent their case for a united AP, MPs from Telangana have decided to push for their demand for a separate Telangana state. After a long gap, the MPs are once again divided on regional lines as they believe that some developments are likely to take place in September.
“Earlier, we were told by the Congress leadership that the high command is seized of the issue, but when our friends (Seemandhra MPs) have decided to represent their case for United AP, we plan to hold similar meetings with the Congress Core Committee members starting from Monday,” Nalgonda MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy told this correspondent. He said, “A few days ago, Congress MPs from Telangana met Union ministers Sharad Pawar, Vayalar Ravi and Ghulam Nabi Azad to discuss the issue and they promised to address the issue soon. Our demand is nothing new, we want that the UPA and Congress leadership should implement their own statement on Telangana state made on the floor of the house on December 10, 2009 and nothing else.”
“We got wind that the high command is going to address the issue in September. We have represented the case for a United AP a long time back, now it is time for us to meet key persons involved in the decision making and push for our cause for a united state,” Anantapur MP Ananth Venkata Ramireddy said. “If the high command announces its stand in favour of a united AP, the party will definitely improve its support base,” Mr Ramireddy added. He said although only nine MPs have attended the preparatory meeting convened by Eluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, message has been sent to all other MPs to attend the meetings from Monday onwards.