Jagan Mohan Reddy, mom Vijayalakshmi quit LS, Assembly over Telangana split

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Hyderabad: Jailed president of the YSR Congress Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his mother, YSR Congress Legislature Party leader Y.S. Vijayalakshmi have resigned from their memberships of the Lok Sabha and Assembly respectively to protest the Congress’ unilateral decision to go ahead with the creation of Telangana state without addressing the concerns of other regions of the state.
Sixteen MLAs, four MLCs and one Lok Sabha member belonging to the YSRC resigned a few weeks ago, triggering the rain of resignations from ruling Congress and the main Opposition Telugu Desam parties.
In an open letter, the mother-son duo said: “We are quitting our posts to express solidarity with the crores of people who have hit the streets to fight the injustice meted out to them by the division of the state without considering the consequences.”
The seven-page open letter released to the public on Saturday, continued: “The Congress has further complicated the issue. We have been advocating time and again that the Centre should first spell out its stand and the proposal should be put forth for discussion before all stake holders and political parties before taking a final decision which would be agreeable to all parties concerned, but that did not happen.”
They accused the Congress and the TD of thinking only of the political gains they will make, even when this means “playing with the lives of Seemandhra people”.
Go gently on T, says YSRC
Telangana must not be looked at in a political perspective for the individual benefit of political parties and leaders, Jagan and Vijayalakshmi, have said.
“Bifurcation is a sensitive issue and should be handled like a father would handle a family matter and do justice among the children.”The YSRC leaders said there are two major issues concerning the bifurcation of state i.e. water and Hyderabad city.
“As you (Centre) have the complete rights on the state as per Article 3 of the Constitution, it is not fair on your part to play with the future of the people of this state. If division is inevitable, what we ask is, it should be done in a manner which is agreeable to all stake holders and no injustice is meted out to anyone, and if you are unable to do this justice, then you should leave the state untouched. Please put yourself in the position of the people in the state and try to visualise why five crore people are agitated. Any untoward decision would lead to our state becoming a man-made desert.”
With regard to Hyderabad city, they said, “Never in the past, in our entire Indian history has the Central government given the state’s capital to people who are wanting others to go, but this injustice is unfortunately the case here, with absolutely no clarity on the welfare and safety of the people and employees who have been working in Hyderabad over these decades. Even now you have a situation wherein the leaders are provoking people, yet no cases are booked against them and if this were to be the plight before the split, then imagine the situation of the people after the split.”