Congress meet lets down Telangana votaries
HYDERABAD: Jubilation is giving way to disappointment and faith is being eroded slowly.
With the Congress high command not even mentioning the word Telangana at the just-concluded three-day AICC Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session), Congress leaders from Telangana are once again expressing doubts over their party taking a favourable decision on the T-issue before January 28, a deadline set by Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.
Though the Telangana leaders expected that their high command would give some clarity on state bifurcation during the brainstorming at Jaipur, to their disappointment, the AICC top brass has skipped the issue altogether.
Except for Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao's mention of Telangana during the first day of Chintan Shivir on Friday, no other leader of the party has brought it up for discussion at the conclave.
When the party committee on political challenges, headed by defence minister AK Antony, was discussing various political issues on Friday, Hanumantha Rao raised the Telangana issue. However, the AICC top brass chose to be silent.
Much to the chagrin of Telangana leaders, even the topic of smaller states did not find any place at the three-day convention. Moreover, the 'Jaipur Declaration' is silent on the Telangana issue.
Following this, apprehensions have once again rising among the Telangana Congress leaders, who until now were optimistic that their high command would take a favourable decision.
Expressing their unhappiness, former minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said, 'If our party leadership goes back on its announcement made on December 9, 2009, in favour of T-state, AICC supremo Sonia Gandhi and vice-president Rahul Gandhi will lose their credibility in our region.'
Talking to reporters here on Sunday, he claimed that all the ministers from Telangana were ready to quit their posts if the Centre fails to make a positive statement by January 28.
Venkata Reddy's brother and MP Komatireddy Rajgopal Reddy went a step further and warned the Congress leadership that they would go on the warpath as per the wishes of people of Telangana if statehood was not accorded.
Rajgopal Reddy, who attended the last day of Chintan Shivir on Sunday, told scribes that achieving statehood for Telangana was the only goal before them.
News Posted: 21 January, 2013
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