The ball still in centre's court: Vivek

High command's stand humiliating, says Manda

Karimnagar: A wedding in Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar brother's house on Friday became a forum for political discussions. While among those present, Union minister S. Jaipal Reddy, Minister D. Sridhar Babu, former MP K. Keshav Rao, declined to comment, MPs G. Vivek and Manda Jagannadham said they stood by their deadline set for the Centre on statehood.

Vivek said phone calls were received from the high command advising the MPs to re-consider their decision to leave the party. The MPs, he stated, had explained that they were ready to re-think if the Centre expressed its readiness to take a decision. He alleged that the issue under pressure from the Seemandhra leaders, who clearly had a majority, has become a 'number game'. However, he claimed that all Telangana MPs because of certain circumstances were unable to join TRS, along with them.

The three MPs felt that Telangana would materialize if their strength increased; that was why they were joining the separatist movement. A He observed that since Chief Minister Kiran Reddy was not a democratically elected party leader he was not aware of the people's desire. 'He is indulging in loose talk and would know public reaction if he interacted with them.' V. Hanumanth Rao, MP, suggested to the two MPs to take a decision after meeting AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi.