Congress' Telangana legislators ready for stir

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Budget session of parliament beginning on Monday, Congress legislators and MPs from Telangana region have decided to launch an open stir for a separate state if the Centre fails to give a clear assurance on the statehood issue.

About 24 Congress MLAs from Telangana, who have been meeting senior leaders in the capital to impress the urgency of the issue upon the party leadership, have decided to boycott the Governor's address on the opening day of Andhra Pradesh Assembly session on Thursday.

The group of legislators met Congress leader AK Antony on Tuesday and Andhra Pradesh state in-charge M Veerappa Moily and senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday. They apprised the leaders about the ground situation and said that the Centre could not afford to postpone a decision on the issue.

"We have told the leadership that we cannot go back to Andhra Pradesh without a clear cut assurance on the course of action that the Union Government plans to take," one of the MLAs told ET.

However, the senior leadership asked the legislators to act rationally and without haste. There were no reassurances in any meeting. "We have decided to boycott the governor's address on Thursday. We will remain in New Delhi and seek more appointments with the core group members.

We will also meet the home minister and inform him about the grassroot sentiments for carving out a separate state. These are so strong that they cannot be ignored," another legislator said.

The legislators said that if they do not get any assurances from the party high command or the Union Government, they would be forced to participate in the non-cooperation movement call given by the Joint Action Committee (JAC), an apex body of the political parties and the groups fighting for separate Telangana. The final call on joining the stir would be taken Sunday.