Only 3 rebel MPs attend

Created On: 18 Jan 2014 1:21 PM IST

Only 3 rebel MPs attend. The MPs who claim to have rebelled against the party high command, opposing its move to bifurcate the state virtually took a ‘U’ turn on Friday.

They hold up placards, do not raise any voice

Hyderabad/New Delhi: The MPs who claim to have rebelled against the party high command, opposing its move to bifurcate the state virtually took a ‘U’ turn on Friday. They not only attended the AICC meeting chaired by AICC president Sonia Gandhi, but also did not raise their voice against the division of the state except for holding placards which read 'Samaikyandhra Mana Vidhanam, Jai Samaikyandhra Mana Ninadam' (United Andhra is our policy, Jai Samaikyandhra is our slogan).

The MPs who attended the AICC session and held the placards were Lagadapati Rajagopal, G V Harsha Kumar and Sabbam Hari. They did not dare resort to any other form of protest.

According to sources, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy called up Digvijay Singh on Friday morning and requested him to allow the rebel MPs to attend the AICC session, lest it should send a different signal to the Seemandhra people.

Singh is understood to have told Kiran that he could help them, provided the Chief Minister ensures they do not create any trouble at the venue. However, following an assurance from the CM, the three MPs were allowed, and accordingly they did not create any flutter at the meeting

When the MPs held placards in support of Samaikyandhra, as a counter move, T leaders like Ponguleti Sudhakar and Mohammed Ali Shabbir held placards in support of Telangana. While the placard held by the MPs was akin to that of the publicity flexi that has come across the Seemandhra region, the T leaders held a placard with Sonia Gandhi’s picture in the middle of T map.

Lagadapati claims that he had sent a slip to AICC general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi urging him to allow a non-official resolution on united Andhra. But it was rejected.

The latest act by the rebel MPs has led to some kind of disenchantment among the Seemandhra leaders here who feel that the MPs are trying to utilise all possible platforms to project themselves as the champions of united Andhra, but continue to be loyal to the high command. Meanwhile, Rajahmundry MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar who was in the Assembly lobbies on Friday said he had received the invitation from AICC in the form of SMS from party headquarters. The SMS said that he should take the pass from the AICC headquarters to attend the meeting. He said the normal practice is that the party high command has a list of all AICC members. The members are asked to pay the membership fee, and then they are given the entry pass.

Asked why he did not go to Delhi, he said he felt that morally it would not be proper to attend the AICC meeting since he had resigned from the party. He even said that it was not true that the Seemandhra MPs were not invited to the AICC session.