TDP MP N Harikrishna resigns from Rajya Sabha

Telugu Desam Party MP N Harikrishna resigned from the Rajya Sabha in protest against the decision to carve out a separate Telangana state.

New Delhi: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP N Harikrishna, the son of late NT Rama Rao, on Thursday resigned from the Rajya Sabha in protest against the decision to carve out a separate Telangana state by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.

Harikrishna, 57, met Rajya Sabha Chairman M Hamid Ansari this morning and submitted his resignation. "I have to inform the House that Chairman has received a letter of resignation from Rajya Sabha member from Andhra Pradesh N Harikrishna. His resignation has been accepted with effect from August 22," Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said. Earlier, Harikrishna alleged that the Government had decided to bifurcate the state to reap political benefits in favour of the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha elections. "By this decision, they (Congress) killed the Telugu spirit. They did it to make Rahul Gandhi next Prime Minister after the Lok Sabha polls," he told a news agency. Invoking NTR, Harikrishna said, "During his time, my father stood firmly for the cause of united Andhra Pradesh. Now it is shattered. My conscious would not allow me to continue (as Rajya Sabha MP)." When Kurien made the announcement in the Rajya Sabha, Harikrishna`s two party colleagues, Y Satyanarayana Chowdary and CM Ramesh, who were in the Well demanding a discussion on Andhra Pradesh bifurcation, created uproar. Both had rushed to the Well as soon as External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid rose to reply to the Calling Attention Motion on Sri Lanka issue. When Kurien asked the TDP members to give notice, they said they have already done so. After all pleas by Kurien to persuade them to resume their seats went unheeded, he remarked, "Why don`t you cooperate? This is a question of Tamil Nadu fishermen, your own brothers. I will be forced to adjourn the House." Both of them kept demanding that the issue be allowed to be raised. They chanted, "What kind of democracy is this?" As both Chowdary and Ramesh were unrelenting, Kurien adjourned the House for 30 minutes at about 1.05 pm. As soon as the House was adjourned, there were sparring between Govardhan Reddy (Congress) and the two TDP members. It was triggered after Reddy was heard as asking why both the TDP members also don`t resign from the House. A visibly agitated Ramesh and Chowdary strongly objected to Reddy`s remarks while other members were seen pacifying both and taking Reddy away in order to avoid any further controversy. PTI