The Telangana Congress MPs on Friday issued an ultimatum to Congress In-Charge of Andhra Pradesh Affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad stating that no option other than the formation of a separate Telangana state would be accepted by them.
The MPs, after meeting Azad at his residence in New Delhi, told media persons that they had urged him and the Centre to make a clear announcement on the formation of the Telangana state by June 1st.
"We can wait for a clear announcement on Telangana up to June 1st. After that, the situation in the region may not be in our hands," the MPs told Azad.
They also told him that the Centre could make a statement on Telangana in the first week of June, after the announcement of the election results in 5 states.
"We cannot go back to our constituencies with empty hands. The people of the region will not allow us to travel freely in our own constituencies if we do not manage to achieve the formation of a separate state," they stated.
The MPs also warned that they would resign to their posts after the first week of June if an announcement is not made. The Telangana leaders of the Congress brushed aside the argument that the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and its chief K Chandrasekhar Rao would benefit politically if the Centre agrees to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
The MPs also objected to the contents of the 8th chapter of the Srikrishna Committee Report, which opined that Maoist presence and communal violence in the region would increase in the event of the formation of a separate Telangana.
The report is opposed to the formation of Telangana and will provoke the people of the region, the MPs are believed to have told Azad.
MP Sarvey Satyanarayana stated that the Congress party would not suffer any damage if A P is bifurcated. He expressed confidence that the Congress would win atleast 15 seats in Telangana. MPs Madhu Yaskhi Goud and Ponnam Prabhakar told Azad that they would convince the TRS chief to merge his party with the Congress if a separate Telangana state is declared.
Sarvey Satyanarayana rejected the proposal of convening a joint meeting with the Seemandhra MPs. "The Telangana MPs are not ready to sit with the Seemandhra MPs until the Centre announces its decision on Telangana, as it would send a wrong message to the people of the region. We will not agree with the Seemandhra MPs' views as their interests are different," he stated.