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Rediff.com  » News » Congress breaks ties with Telangana JAC

Congress breaks ties with Telangana JAC

By Mohammed Siddique
Last updated on: February 19, 2010 23:34 IST
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Congress leaders from Telangana announced that they had severed its relations with all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee on Friday.

Senior Congress legislator and former Home Minister K Jana Reddy made the announcement on behalf of the Telangana group of Congress party after a meeting with party leaders from Telangana.

Announcing the parting of ways, Jana Reddy said the Congress leaders from the region would form their own separate committee and take their own decisions on the Telangana movement.

Kodandaram regretted the decision of the Congress' decision to leave the JAC.

"Going away from JAC is like going away from the people," he said, and reiterated that all Telangana legislators should resign.

"This is the only way to achieve Telangana state," he told the media after JAC meeting in Hyderabad.

He said the Srikrishna Committee was of no use to Telangana, as its terms of reference were against Telangana.

Kodandaram said the JAC would further intensify its movement, but added that it had nothing to do with Saturday's Chalo Assembly programme of the students.

Trouble had been brewing between the Congress and the TJAC for the last few days as the JAC wanted Telangana Congress Members of Legislative Assembly to resign to create a constitutional crisis in the state, and thereby force the Centre to grant a separate state.

However, only two of the 51 Congress MLAs from Telangana abided by the JAC's order and tendered their resignations along with 10 MLAs of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and one each of the Telugu Desam Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Praja Rajyam Party.

But even these two Congress MLAs -- R Damodar Reddy and Mutyam Reddy had been continuously under pressure from the party high command to withdraw their resignations.

Telangana supporters have been staging protests outside the homes of the Congress MLAs and ministers who had refused to resign.

Angered over the demonstrations and attacks, several ministers and Congress leaders had targeted the TJAC convenor Kodandaram.

Meanwhile, the Telangana Congress leaders are looking forward to make the most of the resignations submitted by the 10 TRS legislators. With the upcoming by-elections, Congress leaders from the assembly constituencies of these TRS leaders are actively seeking votes in view of less rivalry.
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Mohammed Siddique in Hyderabad