Andhra Congress demands setting up of Telangana State

Hyderabad, Dec 27 (ANI): The State unit of the Congress in Andhra has supported the demand for the formation of a Telangana State and some members of the State Congress said on Monday that they were prepared to quit their posts for the cause and also went on a "Gandhian fast".

The demand comes just days before the Srikrishna Committee is to table its crucial report deciding the fate of Telangana on December 31.

According to sources, Rajya Sabha MP and Congress Working Committee member Keshava Rao even suggested that the Telangana legislators would not hesitate to resign and bring down the Kiran Kumar Reddy government if cases were not withdrawn.

"We are all hoping that the Srikrishna Committee report will be in favour. If it does not, we all will submit our resignations," said Keshava Rao.

Meanwhile, State Ministers P Shankar Rao and K Jana Reddy offered to resign if a separate state was not announced.

At present, 52 of the 156 Congress MLAs in the 294-member assembly are from Telangana.

Earlier, Kiran Kumar Reddy had appealed to the Congress MPs not to undertake their proposed for withdrawal of police cases against students, but the Parliamentarians rejected the request.

Withdrawal of police cases against students and other Telangana supporters, who took part in the recent agitations, is a demand that has been voiced by ruling Congress, TDP, TRS, and all other Telangana outfits.

Earlier, on December 9, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had protested in New Delhi to demand a Bill for a separate Telangana State.

The seven-point term of reference announced by the Union Government on February 12 has mandated the Justice Srikrishna Committee to "examine the situation in Andhra Pradesh with reference to the demand for a separate state of Telangana and the demand for maintaining the present status of united Andhra".

The Government constituted the committee on February 3, nearly two months after it had announced that steps have been initiated for the formation of a separate state of Telangana.

The Telangana region is spread over 10 northern districts of Andhra Pradesh. (ANI)