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Eighty-two Members of Andhra Pradesh assembly from Telangana region, belonging to five political parties, including ruling Congress and main Opposition Telugu Desam Party, on Thursday decided to resign in protest against the Centre putting the statehood issue on the backburner.
According to spokespersons of these parties, the MLAs from Telangana met separately in Hyderabad and decided to submit their resignations to Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy in protest against the Centre putting the issue of a separate state on the backburner.
While 39 of the MLAs who have decided to submit their resignations are from TDP, 30 are from Congress, TRS 10, PRP two and BJP one.
Andhra Pradesh has a 294-member assembly. Telangana is observing a 48-hour shutdown since midnight on Wednesday over the Centre's decision to hold further consultations on the statehood issue, citing 'altered' situation since December 9 and lack of consensus among political parties.
Non-Telangana Congress MPs express satisfaction
Expressing satisfaction over Centre's fresh statement on Telangana, Congress MLAs from non- Telangana regions of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday decided to withdraw their resignations.
"This is what we wanted. We wanted our views to be considered. So we have decided to withdraw our resignations," Congress legislator and government whip S Sailajanath told mediapersons in Hyderabad.
He, however, said Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement on Wednesday night, calling for wide-ranging consultations with all political parties and groups on the Telangana issue, cannot be termed as victory or defeat for anybody.
"We see the Centre's statement as a part of democratic process to take the views of all," he said.
Sailajanath said ideological campaign for a united Andhra Pradesh would continue. As many as 80 Congress MLAs, 42 from Telugu Desam Party and 16 from Chiranjeevi-led Praja Rajyam Party had submitted their resignation letters to protest the Centre's December 9 statement to initiate a process to form a separate Telangana by bifurcating the largest south Indian state.
Ten TDP MLAs on Thursday decided to resign in protest against the Centre's decision that appeared to put the Telanagana issue on the backburner even as the main opposition party extended support to the two-day bandh called in the region.
At a party meeting in Hyderabad, ten TDP MLAs belonging to Telangana decided to submit their resignations to Speaker N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
Former Andhra Pradesh minister and TDP legislator N Janardhan Reddy told reporters that the Congress has 'betrayed' the Telangana people by diluting its earlier promise of granting statehood to the backward region.
Reddy said his party wanted the bandh to be peaceful and appealed to the students and general public to support the shutdown.
The bandh, which began midnight on Wednesday, has been called by the TRS and other parties to protest the Centre's move to hold further consultations on the Telangana statehood issue.
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday night said, 'A large number of political parties are divided on the issue' and the situation has 'altered' since the Centre's December 9 announcement on a separate state for the region comprising ten districts.
TRS MLAs resign
Earlier, eight of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi Members of Legislative Assembly have put in their papers to protest the Centre's 'U-turn' on the Telangana issue, after party chief K Chandrasekhar Rao resigned.
Rao, who is a Lok Sabha member from Mahabubnagar, sent his resignation letter to the Lok Sabha Speaker late on Wednesday night while the party's eight MLAs have also quit their posts.
"The party's MLAs have resigned over the Centre's betrayal on the Telangana statehood demand," senior TRS legislator T Harish Rao said.
TRS, a section of Congress leaders in Telangana and Praja Rajyam Party's Telangana leaders have decided to form a Joint Action Committee to spearhead the agitation for the creation of a separate state. The parties and other Telangana outfits will meet shortly to decide their future course of action over the issue.