End Telangana Non-Cooperation: Jana

Urging the government employees to call off their non-cooperation agitation for Telangana, Congress legislators from Telangana on Saturday said that the Centre would "very soon" call for an all-party meeting to discuss the further course of action on the separate statehood demand.

Talking to mediapersons after a meeting with the MPs and Congress legislators who had returned from New Delhi, Panchayat Raj Minister Jana Reddy said that the Centre has the authority to take a decision on Telangana and not the state government. He said that the people of the state and the government were suffering due to the non-cooperation stir, and urged the employees to resume their duties.

Reddy also urged the pro-Telangana agitators to leave the decision on a separate state to the Centre. "protest or agitation must be directed against the Centre and not against the state government," he said.

The Minister revealed that the MLAs and MLCs who had gone to build pressure on the party leadership to agree to the division of Andhra Pradesh had been assured by the Congress Core Committee that the issue was being discussed and justice will be done. The legislators had urged the core committee to take an early decision on the statehood issue as chances of widespread resentment against the party were increasing rapidly.

Speaking later, Rajya Sabha Member K Keshav Rao said that the reports which appeared in a section of the media that the Congress legislators had been shunned by the party High Command were totally untrue. He said that the reality was different from what was being portrayed in the media.

Rao said that talks only on the Telangana issue had figured between the Congress High Command and the legislators who had gone to New Delhi. He added that the legislators who had returned were "satisfied".

The CWC member said that though "en masse resignations of the Congress legislators would serve no purpose, we will still take a final decision on this demand by other pro-Telangana leaders after consultations with the High Command."

Besides Jana Reddy himself, other ministers who attended the meeting held at the Panchayat Raj Minister's residence were Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Jupalli Krishna Rao, Saraiah, D Sridhar Babu, D K Aruna and Sunita Lakshma Reddy. MPs Balram Naik, Gutta Sukender Reddy, Manda Jagganatham and Komtireddy Rajagopal Reddy, besides other leaders, were present.

Courtesy: INN