The MPs, who met here, decided to meet again Jan 29 to announce their future course of action.

The meeting was held to discuss the latest developments in view of Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad’s statement that a decision on Telangana issue was not likely by Jan 28.

The MPs reiterated that the central government should stick to the one-month deadline announced by Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde after the all-party meeting Dec 28.

Senior leader K. Keshava Rao told reporters that they were ready to work with any party to achieve the goal of a separate state.

G. Vivek, one of the MPs, said if the central government failed to take a decision soon to carve out Telangana, it would have serious repercussions.

“This time we will have to take some hard decision because we are losing our credibility among the people in Telangana,” said MP S. Rajaiah.

“The Congress party’s image will suffer further damage,” warned Manda Jagannatham, at whose residence the meeting was held.

G. Sukhender Reddy said they would not hesitate to quit the party if it takes a decision against a Telangana state.

Meanwhile, TRS leader Harish Rao said if the central government failed to take a positive decision by Jan 28, all ministers from Telangana should resign.

Chandrasekhara Rao’s daughter K. Kavitha, who heads Telangana Jagruthi, a cultural organization, and her supporters staged a sit-in here to demand that the central government grants a Telangana state.

On the other side, protests continued in Seemandhra (Rayalaseema and Andhra regions) urging the central government not to split Andhra Pradesh.

Supporters of Samaikhya or united Andhra laid siege to the residence of state minister Mohammed Ahmedullah in Kadapa demanding his resignation. Police arrested the protesters.

In Visakakhapatnam, the protesters laid siege to the house of Congress leader Subbirami Reddy.

Congress leaders from Seemandhra are attending a public meeting organised by Congress MP U. Arun Kumar in Rajhamundry to press the demand for keeping Andhra Pradesh united.

Speaking to the media here on Friday, Garikapati said the injury to Naidu’s leg had relapsed and he has been suffering from back pain since two days. He said though doctors advised him to stop his yatra, he was refusing to listen to them.

Stating that they also had requested him to stop the Yatra as his leg has swollen, Ramamohan Rao said he was not listening even to them. He told the media that they had informed his family members about his condition.

“Mother snake, baby snake”

Meanwhile, Naidu continued his ‘Vastunna Meekosam’ Padayatra for the fifth day in Krishna district on Friday. Though several leaders met him and urged that he stop the Yatra, Naidu said he was touring the State to know the problems of the people and would not stop. He said he would walk slowly as his leg was paining.

Addressing the people, he described the Congress as the mother snake and the YSR Congress as its offspring, the baby snake. He cautioned the people to beware of their venom. He also said all good men should join hands as thieves had grouped together. He said only when all the good people join hands, they would be able to teach a lesson to the thieves. He has alleged that Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was supporting the corrupt and left the administration to the winds.

However, despite Union Minister and AICC General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad dampening the spirits of separatists over the likely delay in taking a firm decision on Telangana statehood, there seems to be still a flicker of hope among the Congress leaders from the region that the issue would be resolved during the next 48 hours.

There is no denial of the fact that while Azad’s remark over the deadline on T had come as a rude shock to the Congress leaders from the region, it had definitely brought a big relief to the people in the Seemandhra region. However, leaders from both the regions are not leaving the matter to chance and hence continuing their efforts to mount pressure on the Central leaders by staying put in the national capital to ensure that the State is either bifurcated or retain its status quo.

It is pertinent to mention here that as the Congress High Command continued to dilly dally in taking a firm stand either to bifurcate or retain its present status, Congress leaders, especially from the Telangana region, have been hunting for safer decks to save their political career.

Komatireddy meets KCR

The very fact that a former minister and Congress MLA from Nalgonda district Komatireddy Venkatreddy this morning called on TRS president K.. Chandrasekhara Rao triggering off speculations that he might jump into the pink party. It is also rumored that his brother and Lok Sabha member Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy is also waiting for an opportunity to defect to the TRS.

As a matter of fact, the Telangana Congress MPs, who held a meeting in the residence of Manda Jagannatham, in the national capital, decided to wait till January 28, the deadline set by Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde to resolve the T crisis, and then take drastic measures to achieve their goal.

Expressing their strong protest over Azad’s comment about possible delay in taking a final decision on T statehood, the T MPs felt that the statement made by the AICC General Secretary only harmed the interests of the party in the State. They also accused the Seemandhra leaders of putting spokes in resolving the crisis. The Congress leaders, especially the MPs from the region, are calling on TRS Chief KCR to chalk out plans to achieve their goal. However, they made it clear that they would not join TRS for the moment.

The T Congress MPs further said that once the Central leadership makes its stance clear either to carve out a Telangana State or retain the present status, then they would all sit together and chalk out their plan of action, including resigning from the party and Parliament.

Speaking to the media after meeting KCR at his residence in Hyderabad, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, who had quit his ministry for the sake of Telangana, blamed the Seemandhra leaders of creating hurdles in the formation of a separate State. If the Central Congress leadership does not come out with a solution, they would be compelled to take tough and drastic steps to achieve Telangana, he explained that he had met KCR with this agenda only.