Telangana brews more resignations

Political parties were unable to contain the fallout from the announcement that Andhra Pradesh would be divided, triggering resignations of many Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) across party lines.

Seven MPs from the Telugu Desam Party and six from the ruling Congress, all from Seemandhra, announced they were resigning. While the Congress MPs gave their resignations to T K Vishwanathan, secretary-general of the Lok Sabha (they are required to hand these to the Speaker to be accepted), the TDP leaders merely announced their intention to quit.

Tremors of the decision were felt in the rest of the country as well. In Assam, the situation in Karbi Anglong district was reported to be tense, with protestors demanding their own council preparatory to a new state. Two people have died in violent protests so far, while 20 have been injured. Agitators demanding an autonomous council resorted to violence and arson, destroying the railway tracks near the district headquarters at the Diphu railway station.

The Bodos of Assam announced strikes and a rail blockade all over Assam to seek a Bodoland state. Angry protestors removed six kilometres of railway tracks in the Diphu-Lumding section and, as a consequence, train services between Upper and Lower Assam have been paralysed, with major trains controlled at Dimapur and Lumding, police said.

The Andhra MPs who have given letters of resignation are A Sai Prathap (Rajampet constituency), Anantha Venkatarami Reddy (Anantapur) C V Harsha Kumar (Amalapuram-SC), Vundavalli Arun Kumar (Rajahmundry), Lagadapati Rajagopal (Vijayawada) and S P Y Reddy (Nandyal).

The lone Upper House member from the region, K V P Ramachandra Rao, gave his resignation to Rajya Sabha Secretary General Shamsher Sheriff.

The MPs said three more Lok Sabha members from the state -- Sabbam Hari (Anakapalli), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (Ongole) and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao (Guntur) -- had also faxed their resignations.

The MPs claimed central ministers from Andhra Pradesh would meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister on Saturday and tender their resignations.

They said they had sought an appointment with Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar because according to norms it is the Speaker who has to accept their resignations.

The resignations came a day after Congress Union ministers and some MPs from Andhra Pradesh held a meeting at the residence of K V P Ramachandra Rao late on Thursday night.

At the meeting, the Union ministers are understood to have counselled the MPs not to resign, saying after the Congress high-command's decision on Telangana formation, it would focus on Andhra's future development.

However, the MPs felt the situation had still not gone out of hand and by tendering their resignations, they could force the government to hold back its decision. The MPs - Y Satyanarayana Choudary, C M Ramesh (both Rajya Sabha), Nimmala Kistappa, Konakalla Narayana and Modugula Venugopal Reddy (Lok Sabha) - said they were resigning in protest against the "injustice" meted to (new) Andhra Pradesh through the division.

"Our party has favoured creation of Telangana state. We stand by it. We are not against the Bill (for creation of a new state). But we want the interests of new Andhra Pradesh, that will come into being upon bifurcation, to be protected," the MPs announced at a press conference.