AICC firm on delivering Telangana state

NEW DELHI: The Congress leadership is committed to the passage of the Telangana bill in Parliament, as any attempt to delay implementation of the promise will only result in serious political reverses for the party.

This was clearly conveyed by senior party leaders during the one-day AICC special session held at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on Friday. The high command also sought to pacify rebel Seemandhra MPs by allowing them to attend the session.

Three of the six rebel Seemandhra MPs displayed placards against the bifurcation of the State but their rebellion appeared to have fizzled out after they were permitted inside the meeting.

Highly placed sources in the Congress Working Committee admitted that the party was faced with a tight-rope walk in Andhra Pradesh.

'Of course, the bill on Telangana has to be tabled and passed in the February session of Parliament,' said a senior leader newly assigned to deal with the affairs of the State.

He explained that any move to go back on the promise could result in a rout for the party in both the regions. Without going into the details of the developments in the ongoing Assembly session, the senior leader agreed that time was running out for them and the government could not afford to be seen as dilly-dallying on the issue.

The party leadership has already accepted that Congress faces a near wipe-out in the Seemandhra region in the current political situation. The party's hopes totally rest on the Telangana region now. Therefore, the party leadership can ill-afford to go back on the promise of the new State.

"Congress is faced with a tight-rope walk situation in AP. Any move to go back on Telangana could result in a rout for the party in both the regions"

Meanwhile, the prospect of Seemandhra MPs creating a scene at the meeting was cleverly averted by the party when AICC General Secretary and in-charge of AP Digvijay Singh sent private messages to the rebel MPs to attend the session.

These six rebel MPs had threatened to disrupt the session when they were denied entry passes for the meet on Thursday. On Friday morning, however, Lagadapati Rajagopal and G V Harsha Kumar were allowed to attend the meet on the basis of their Parliament IDs.

Another Seemandhra rebel Sabbam Hari joined them a little later. The party thus avoided any ruckus from these MPs during the crucial party meet. The other three MPs who were denied passes earlier were Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, Undavalli Arun Kumar and Sai Prathap.