Despite indications that the Central government is actively considering making an announcement on Telangana in July, Congress leaders from the region are adamant about their decision to quit en masse on July 4. Party MPs also said that they had already asked for an appointment with the Lok Sabha Speaker on Monday to submit their resignations.
On Saturday, a stream of high-profile politicians, including Mr Ahmed Patel, political secretary of the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, the chief minister Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy, the PCC chief, Mr Botsa Satyanarayana, tried to reason with Telangana Congress leaders to do a rethink on the decision, but drew a blank. They also asked the Telangana leaders to at least wait for the party high command’s decision on Telangana and to stop rushing with their resignations.
Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy had invited the panchayat raj minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy, for talks in the morning but the latter made it clear to the chief minister during the meet that the Telangana Congress leaders could not wait further and that they would not change their minds on the issue. Mr Ahmed Patel also spoke to Mr Jana Reddy and the Congress MP, Mr Kesava Rao, and asked them to reconsider the decision but both leaders rejected his pleas.
Later in the afternoon it was PCC president’s turn. He invited all the Telangana ministers and MPs to Gandhi Bhavan and held a meeting to find a way out, but here too, the answer was a firm “no”.
Talking to news persons immediately after the meeting, the PCC president said that he had instructed all party leaders, particularly leaders from Seemandhra, not to speak about the resignation move by the Telangana leaders. He added that the party high command was concerned about the resignations and had sought some time to take a decision on the Telangana issue.
“I am hopeful that the high command will take a decision that will be acceptable for all the eight crore people of Andhra Pradesh,” Mr Satyanarayana said. He, however, admitted that there had been a delay in taking a decision on Telangana. The resignations have been timed with the start of the academic year for colleges.