T leaders prepare for political showdown from Nov 1

Former minister Komati Reddy Venkata Reddy, who recently quit the state Cabinet against the indecision of the Congress leadership on the issue of separate statehood for Telangana, announced on Thursday that he would undertake indefinite fast for the cause of his region from November 1.

The move comes a day after TRS leaders said party president K Chandrasekhara Rao was contemplating going on fast unto death once again to put pressure on the UPA government for an early decision in favour of Telangana.

Apart from being vocal on the issue of Telangana, Reddy also has been critical of chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy's leadership in the aftermath of the general strike by the government employees and others.

Though the leaders of the agitation succeeded in bringing the entire public services and administration in the region to a grinding halt with their month-long strike, they could not get any assurance from the Congress leadership. The employees of some key departments have already joined the duties.

Reddy’s decision to undertake indefinite fast has also been viewed in the light of hope being expressed by a section of Telangana Congress leaders that the party high command may announce its decision by the first week of next month. He is the second person to resign from the Cabinet on this issue.

With November 1 being the formation day of Andhra Pradesh as the first linguistic state in the country, political parties and leaders in the Telangana region, including a section of Congress MPs, have been drawing up fresh protest plans. Some of the MPs have even threatened to block the officials ceremonies across the region by declaring the day as ‘black day’.

The internal rift among Congress ministers who refused to toe the path of Venkata Reddy through resignations came out openly last week. With the remaining sections in the ongoing general strike finding a respectable exit from the agitation, the newly announced hunger strikes and other protests may once against turn the spotlight on political class of the region.