Telangana: Andhra Congress chief urges MLAs to withdraw resignations

Hyderabad, Dec 13 (ANI): D Srinivas, the Congress chief in Andhra Pradesh has insisted on the MLAs withdrawing their resignations.

APCC president D Srinivas said, "MLAs must withdraw resignations to avert a constitutional crisis."

Cutting across party lines, 135 MLAs resigned in a 294-member Assembly refusing to accept the Centre's nod for initiating the process of the formation of the Telangana State.

Andhra Pradesh politics is in crisis over the resignations and no solution seems to have evolved till now.

With 20 ministers from the Rayalaseema regions threatening to resign on Saturday, other ministers belonging to the Telangana region are meeting today to decide if they should quit too.

Meanwhile, Vijayawada MP L Rajagopal, who had resigned over the Telangana issue, has said, "All 225 Congress MLAs will oppose the resolution in the assembly. Andhra will speak in one voice. Telangana means region of Telugu speaking people. We don't want to weaken the Telugu speaking states."

"Knit India, do not split India," he added.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Chief Minister K Rosaiah who says that he was not in favour of moving a resolution on Telangana in the state assembly, but the Centre had paid no attention to his warning.

Earlier on December 9, Rosaiah told the Congress High Command that with the mass resignation of MLAs belonging to the non-Telangana region, it would be difficult to pass a resolution in the Andhra Assembly.

Senior Andhra Pradesh Congress leader J.C. Diwakar Reddy has urged the Union Government to send an emissary to clarify doubts raised by legislators representing the Rayalseema and coastal Andhra regions.

Commenting on the resignation of MLAs, Reddy said: "The ball is in the court of the speaker. He however did not rule out the possibility of MLAs taking back the resignation in the event of the current crisis being resolved amicably." (ANI)