Three Congress MPs from Telangana give ultimatum to party

HYDERABAD: Three Congress MPs from Telangana region today said they would not hesitate to quit if the party leadership does not take a decision on statehood issue by May 30.


The MPs -- M Jagannath, G Vivek and S Rajaiah -- met here today and discussed the issue.

Talking to reporters, Jagannath said they would not hesitate to quit the party if no favourable decision came by May 30.

"We want to make it clear to Congress high command that if no decision came on Telangana issue by May 30, our action plan will be towards taking a tough decision. We would not even hesitate to quit the party," he said.

Though they had set such deadlines earlier too, Rajaiah said this would be the final one.

The MPs condemned the comments of AICC spokesman P C Chacko yesterday that Telangana does not form a part of the national agenda of the UPA and it concerns the state government.

Chacko's remarks had come in response to the question as to when the decision on Telangana was expected.

However, in a statement today, Chacko insisted that the Telangana problem is very much on the UPA's national agenda and the party is aware of the sentiments of the people from that region and a decision will be taken as soon as the ongoing consultation process is over.

He said his comments on Telangana yesterday at a press conference were misunderstood and misconstrueda.

The Telangana Congress MPs have been in the forefront of the statehood agitation. They held a sit-in the premises of the Parliament during the recently-concluded session.

It was speculated that some of the MPs would join TRS after its president K Chandrasekhar Rao met Jagannath and Keshav Rao and extended invitation to join his party.

Responding to today's development, TRS MLA and Rao's nephew T Harish Rao asked the MPs to quit Congress and join hands with TRS in fighting for separate Telangana.