Resignations move deferred

• Speaker goes out of capital, will give a fresh date
• Lagadapati says no change in their stand

Venkat Parsa

New Delhi/Hyderabad: The resignation drama of the Seemandhra Congress MPs took an interesting turn on Tuesday, when Speaker Meira Kumar deferred her appointment scheduled for Tuesday morning to September 28 or 30th. Speaker Meira Kumar rescheduled the appointment, as she had to leave the capital for some work. The latest turn has given some respite to the Congress High Command, which has been trying hard to avert any major showdown within the party.

High drama preceded it. The Speaker initially postponed the appointment given to Seemandhra Congress MPs by an hour. The appointment, which was originally fixed at 11.30 am, was rescheduled to 12.30 pm. Later, it was deferred. The Seemandhra Congress leaders held a meeting in the Central Hal of Parliament to deliberate further, in the light of the advice of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy not to precipitate matters by pressing for their resignations.

Kiran Reddy hosted breakfast meeting for Seemandhra Congress MPs at the Andhra Pradesh Bhavan. But MPs Lagadapati Rajagopal, Vundavalli Arun Kumar and Ananta Venkatarami Reddy did not attend the meeting.

The Chief Minister told them that resignations will not serve any purpose. Whatever the action, it should be taken collectively. He told them that their presence in Lok Sabha was necessary to defeat the bill when it comes before Lok Sabha. Kiran told them that if they resign now, it would put pressure on other MPs and ministers to resign. Both Chief Minister Kiran Reddy and APCC president Botcha Satyanarayana tried to convince Seemandhra Congress MPs that by dropping their insistence on pressing for their resignations, they can prove to be more effective.

In the meeting held in the Central Hall of Parliament, L Rajagopal, K Bapiraju, A Sai Pratap, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Vundavalli Arun Kumar, Ananta Venkatram Reddy, S P Y Reddy and K V P Ramachander Rao, besides Andhra Pradesh Ministers Kondru Murali and Shailajanath, took part. Later L Rajagopal said there was no change in their stand and Seemandhra Congress MPs would not back out for now. The very fact that so many Seemandhra Congress MPs had gathered in the Central Hall of Parliament was itself sign of their firm resolve to resign. Since the Speaker was away from the capital, they could not press for their resignations, in order to pressurise the Congress High Command to revisit its decision on bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. As soon as they get the next appointment with the Speaker, they will certainly press for their resignations.

The Seemandhra Congress leaders were divided into two groups. One favoured a hard line approach and was bent upon resigning from all posts to pressurize the High Command to revisit its decision on bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Another group strongly felt that mere resignation was no solution to the problem at hand. The need of the hour was a coordinated approach to collectively work towards the resolution of the crisis.

The argument is that if they continue in their posts, they can work at all levels, within the party and in parliament to have their way. Once they resign from their posts, they will be relegated to the background and would not be in a position to influence the course of events that may unfold now.

There is a view that now the process of creation of Telangana is likely to be speeded up. The Resolution would go to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly and the Bill will come up in parliament during the Winter Session. If they remain in office, they can effectively intervene to safeguard the interests of the people of Seemandhra region.

From the YSRCP, Mekapati Rajmohan Reddy met Speaker’s principal secretary Sundeep Khanna, as the Speaker was not available. He requested him that his resignation, alongwith that of YSRCP supremo Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, should be immediately accepted. The principal secretary promised to convey it to the Speaker.