93 MLAs resign in protest against Centre's move to form Telangana

Cutting across party lines, 93 legislators hailing from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions of Andhra Pradesh (AP) submitted their resignation letters to the state Assembly speaker, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Thursday in protest against the Centre’s decision to initiate the process of formation of the Telangana state.

“I will be calling every signatory to the resignation letter before I take any decision,” the speaker said, adding that he had received resignation letters of 53 Congress legislators, 29 Telugu Desam Party MLAs and 11 Praja Rajyam Party legislators.

Incidentally, the state Congress Legislature Party recently passed an unanimous resolution entrusting the issue of Telangana to the party president, Sonia Gandhi. The leaders of TDP, BJP, PRP and CPI have also gone on record stating that they would extend their support if a resolution seeking separate Telangana state was moved in the Assembly.

Nevertheless, the Centre seemed to have opened a Pandora’s box in AP with its Wednesday’s decision to grant statehood for Telangana region. Now, along with Telangana, there is the demand for separate states for Andhra, Rayalaseema and even north-coastal Andhra bordering Orissa.

This apart, there is a demand for according Union Territory status for Hyderabad. “If creation of Telangana state becomes inevitable, then we want Hyderabad to be made Union Territory,” Congress ministers Mukesh Goud and D Nagender, who hail from the city, had earlier said.

The Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has considerable influence in the Muslim-dominated city, is also in favour of declaring Hyderabad as Union Territory. Muslims constitute nearly 40 per cent of the city population. The MIM represents Hyderabad in Lok Sabha and has five legislators.

The first linguistic state to be formed in the country in 1956, AP has three distinct regions – Telangana, coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. The state capital is part of Telangana, which accounts for 119 of the total 294 seats in the Assembly and 17 of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Chief minister, K Rosaiah, urged the legislators not to get agitated. He pointed out that a resolution seeking separate statehood for Telangana could be adopted by the Assembly only with the consent of the majority of the members.

With political crisis in the state deepening, Rosaiah convened an emergency meeting of his Cabinet in the evening.

Meanwhile, supporters of an integrated AP has called for a bandh on Friday in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema districts.