Telangana Congress MPs who were
suspended from the Lok Sabha for 4 days for stalling its proceedings over the Telangana issue, were given a rousing welcome in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The MPs - G Vivek, S Rajaiah, Madhu Yaskhi, Ponnam Prabhakar, Gutta Sukhender Reddy, Balram Naik, Komatreddy Rajagopal Reddy and Manda Jagannatham - were brought in a rally from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport at Shamshabad, to Gun Park, on their return from the national capital. Led by former Rajya Sabha MP K Keshava Rao, the MPs paid tributes to the martyrs of Telangana at Gun Park.
Later, talking to reporters, Keshava Rao said the protest by the MPs in the Lok Sabha was just the beginning of a new wave of agitation to achieve statehood for the Telangana region.
He appealed to all political parties in the region to sink their differences and join hands to achieve the goal. He said that blame games and mud-slinging would only damage the agitation.
Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki Goud condemned political parties that described the MPs' suspension as a political drama. He said that Telangana leaders' criticism of one other was one of the major causes of the delay in the formation of Telangana.
He also accused Governor E S L Narasimhan and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy of obstructing the formation of a new state.
Madhu Yashki said that the Congress MPs from the region would meet on Monday to decide the future course of action. He said that the decision on whether or not to participate in the Lok Sabha session, too, would be taken on Monday.
He claimed that the MPs' agitation has moved the Congress High Command and union ministers - and that Ghulam Nabi Azad and Vayalar Ravi held discussions with them twice since their suspension. He said that an that Sonia Gandhi would soon take a decision on the statehood issue was given to Telangana MPs.
Among those who received the MPs at Gun Park included Telangana JAC leaders, members of the lawyers JAC, Telangana Vimochana Samithi leader and MLC Dilip, and other Congress leaders. (INN)