Choosing a safe path, the Telangana Congress Steering Committee on Saturday decided not to participate in the by-elections for the Banswada Assembly seat.
The seat fell vacant after TDP MLA Pocharam Srinivas resigned from the party to join the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. By-polls for Banswada seat are scheduled to be held on 13 October, and with Telangana sentiments running high and Pocharam himself deciding to re-contest on the TRS ticket, the chances of the Congress winning the seat are very bleak.
Therefore, instead of a contest and possible subsequent humiliation, Telangana Congress leaders have decided to stay away from the by-polls.
Talking to reporters after the committee's crucial meeting in Hyderabad on Sunday, Congress MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy said that the Congress High Command and PCC President Botsa Satyanarayana would be convinced about boycotting the Banswada by-polls.
However, he said that the decision to stay away from the by-polls was aimed to create a constitutional crisis. He said that all parties from Telangana should stay from the by-polls to mount pressure on the Centre to take an early decision on Telangana formation.
The committee also demanded that the state government celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day on 17 September at the official level. Telangana Congress leaders will organise separate functions at all party offices and the government must organise a state function in the state's capital, Sukhender Reddy demanded.
Sukhender Reddy said that the steering committee also demanded a thorough probe into the reports of police action against the students of Kakatiya University in Warangal.
He said that tThe guilty policemen must be identified and must be immediately suspended from services, and that criminal cases must be booked against them. However, he also condemned the students' attack on the residences of Telangana ministers.
The Telangana Congress leaders also extended their support to the general strike from 13 September called by the Telangana Political Joint Action Committee.
Regarding Congress MP U Arun Kumar's proposal that Seemandhra leaders would agree for Telangana if Hyderabad is made a joint capital for both the states, Sukhender Reddy said that the committee would consider the proposal if Hyderabad is made capital for a limited period of 10 to 15 years.
The Telangna Congress Steering Committee also extended its own deadline from 17 September to 30 September given to the Centre to announce its stand on Telangana. (INN)