APNGOs get no assurance

• They resort to dharna in front of Digvijay’s house
• Deplore stance of PM, Digvijay that T will happen
• To meet Seemandhra MPs, Ministers today
• Ask Union Ministers from Seemandhra to resign
• Deeksha by MPs and MLAs at AP Assembly on Sept 1
• Next day, Electricity employees to formally join strike
• Save Andhra Pradesh meeting in Hyd on Sept 7

New Delhi/Hyderabad: As the Congress leaders keep playing truant in giving an assurance that the bifurcation move would be withdrawn, a large number of APNGO Association representatives held a protest in front of the house of AICC General Secretary in-charge of AP Affairs Digvijay Singh in Delhi. They even tried to stop his convoy, but in vain. The APNGO leaders later called on leaders of national parties like L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav and leaders of AIADMK, Trinamool Congress, CPI and CPM.

Speaking to the media, the APNGOs president Ashok Babu said that Advani had told him that since BJP was in favour of Telangana State, BJP would put pressure on the government to solve the issues raised by them. “This problem had arisen only because of a hurried decision taken by the Centre,” he said.

Ashok Babu deplored that both Prime Minister and Digvijay Singh had made it clear to them that there was no chance of going back on the decision of separate Telangana but assured them that they would address all the issues which were causing concern to the people of Seemandhra region. But the employees would not accept anything short of withdrawal of bifurcation decision. They demanded that Union Ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra must resign forthwith so that the Congress high command could realise the intensity of the agitation.

The APNGOs will meet the Seemandhra MPs and Central ministers in Delhi on Thursday before deciding on whether or not to meet the Antony committee. On September 1, Seemandhra MPs and MLAs would hold a deeksha in front of Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises. From September 2, the Electricity employees would be formally joining the strike. On September 7, the APNGOs will hold Save Andhra Pradesh meeting in Hyderabad.

The APNGOs said they would seek the permission of the State Government to hold the public meeting. Hyderabad is central to the entire tangle, as the Seemandhra people are intrinsically linked to the city and could not be separated from it, they added.

Meanwhile, the women employees told the media in Hyderabad that they were facing stiff opposition from their Telangana counterparts in holding demonstrations and protests which was their democratic right. They said when they were questioning if they had no right to hold Samaikyandhra meeting at Hyderabad, some T activists shouted “No”. If this was the situation when the state was still united what would happen later, they wondered.