Congress leaders from Telangana are said to be in favour

HYDERABAD: Congress leaders from Telangana are said to be in favour of taking a tough stand if they fail to extract a commitment from the party high command on separate Telangana during their proposed visit to New Delhi on January 28.

A dozen leaders, who met at the residence of V. Purshotham Reddy, MLA, here on Friday, reportedly decided to prepare themselves for the eventuality, including resignation from their posts, based on the response of the high command. They met to discuss their strategy in the wake of reports that the leadership had called for restraint in voicing demand for separate Telangana.

They took note of the reported remarks of AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi that the Congress would carve out Bundelkhand State out of Uttar Pradesh. They were said to be of the view that if Bundelkhand State could be created in the absence of any significant separatist movement there, there was no reason why Telangana could not be carved out when it had a long history of struggles.

Briefing reporters later, Siddipet MP Sarve Satyanarayana and MLC K.R. Amos said they were grateful to Mr. Rahul Gandhi for his gesture towards Bundelkhand and expected a similar handling of Telangana issue by the party. They had utmost confidence that AICC president Sonia Gandhi would concede separate Telangana.

Appeal to YSR


They would meet Ms. Gandhi on January 28 to explain the prevailing situation in the region and request her to concede the demand for separate Telangana before the 2009 elections.

Before leaving for New Delhi, they would also appeal to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to express solidarity with the Telangana cause.

Right to speak


When their attention was drawn to the Congress high command’s directive to party leaders not to publicly air their views on Telangana, they said they were it was their right to speak as it was a raging issue. There was no bar on talking about Telangana as long as a decision was not taken. Former Minister M. Satyanarayana Rao and MLCs Palvai Goverdhan Reddy, S. Indrasain Reddy, B. Kamalakar Rao and K. Yadava Reddy attended the meeting.