Hyderabad: Congress leaders from Telangana
region, including ministers and MPs, today decided to continue
staying away from official work in order to mount pressure on
the Centre for the creation of a separate state.
They would, however, participate in the official
functions on the Independence Day.
"We have decided to continue the present policy of
staying away from official duties," Congress MP G Sukhender
Reddy told reporters here, after a meeting of the Telangana
Congress Steering Committee at the residence of its chairman
and Rajya Sabha Member K Keshav Rao.
Asked how long the boycott would continue, Congress MLA
Gandra Venkataramana Reddy said the MPs would continue to stay
away from Parliament session unless the party leadership gave
a directive to attend in the event of any crisis.
Asked if the state ministers too would boycott Cabinet
meetings, he said maintaining status quo covered all aspects
of abstaining from official work.
The Telangana Congress MPs, MLAs and MLCs had submitted
resignations on July 4 this year. The resignations of the MLAs
were, however, rejected by the Assembly Speaker. All of them,
including state ministers, have been staying away from the
official work since then.
There were expectations that Telangana Congress leaders
would resume their duties in the wake of the repeal of
Clause 14 (f) of 1975 Presidential Order that had made
Hyderabad a free zone for employment.
Few ministers from Telangana region reportedly attended
some functions and official work in the last few days.
Telangana Congress Steering Committee meeting thanked
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi
for the deletion of Clause 14 (f), which was a long-pending
demand of pro-Telangana leaders.
Congress leaders from the region hoped that the Centre
would come out with a positive response to the separate
statehood demand by September 17, the day the erstwhile Nizam
state became a part of the Indian Union, Sukhender Reddy said.
"Ghulam Nabi Azad said the consultation process may
take two months for completion. Already 20 days have passed,"
he said.
Azad has been holding consultations with the party
leaders from the three regions of Andhra Pradesh --
Rayalaseema, coastal Andhra and Telangana -- to find a
consensus.
The steering committee meeting also called upon the party
activists to unfurl the `Telangana flag` along with the
national flag tomorrow.
PTI
