14 MLAs resign in AP

A political crisis is brewing in Andhra Pradesh on the eve of the budget session of the state Assembly with 14 legislators hailing from the Telangana region submitting their resignation letters to Speaker, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Sunday in protest against the terms of reference of the Justice Srikrishna Committee set up by the Union government.

These legislators are against the five-member committee terms of reference as they also include, among other aspects, looking into the demand for maintaining the present status of united Andhra Pradesh.

Those who submitted their resignations today include all the 10 legislators of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), two from the ruling Congress and one each from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Praja Rajyam Party (PRP).

 

At a marathon meeting on Saturday night, the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) had resolved to ask all elected representatives hailing from the Telangana region to submit their resignations. The JAC comprises representatives from the ruling Congress, TRS, Telugu Desam Party (TDP), BJP and a string of civil society organisations fighting for the statehood cause.

Telangana, comprising nine districts and Hyderabad, accounts for 119 seats in the 294-member Assembly. The Congress has 50 legislators while TDP has 39. BJP and PRP have two legislators each.

Barring the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), whose presence is confined to the state capital, the representatives of all other parties in the region are in favour of a separate state.

TDP leader, N Janardhan Reddy, said the party’s 27 out of the 39 legislators from Telangana had kept their resignation letters ready. He, however, said the Congress legislators should also come forward to resign.

There were internal differences in the Congress over the resignation issue. While some wanted to resign, others were of the view that they should only boycott the Assembly proceeding. Consequently, only two legislators, R Damodar Reddy and Ch Muthyam Reddy, resigned today.

The Speaker told reporters that he would take a decision on the resignations within the framework of the Constitution and according to the rules and procedures of the Assembly.