Seemandhra people will reject Congress, say expelled MPs

New Delhi/Hyderabad, Feb 11: Six MPs from

, who were expelled from

on Tuesday, said the party will have to pay a heavy price for bifurcation of

against the people's sentiments.

The MPs not only predicted Congress' defeat in the ensuing elections but also claimed that it would not even find candidates to contest the polls on its ticket.

Stating that their goal is to stall tabling of the Telangana bill in parliament, the MPs said they would announce their future course of action after Feb 21.

Congress expelled Sabbam Hari, G.V. Harsha Kumar, V. Arun Kumar, L. Rajagopal, R. Sambasiva Rao and A. Sai Pratap from the party for giving no-confidence notices against the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in parliament over the Telangana issue.

Vijayawada MP Rajagopal said the people would reject Congress.

He said the expulsion would not weaken the movement for united Andhra Pradesh. "We are ready for any sacrifice to keep the state united," he said while reiterating the allegation that the government is trying to table the Telangana bill in parliament in an undemocratic manner.

Sabbam Hari alleged that leadership took the action to counter opposition parties, criticizing it for failing to control its own MPs opposing the decision on Telangana.

"Nobody in Seemandhra will come forward to contest the coming elections on Congress ticket," he said and claimed that more MPs fighting for united Andhra would join them.

Reacting to the development, Sambasiva Rao said they knew the consequences while signing the no-confidence notice. He said they were only opposing the decision taken by the party.

Harsha Kumar wanted to know what action the leadership would take against the central ministers showing their dissent in parliament. Pointing out that they had given no-confidence notice in December, he wondered why the leadership choose to act now.

Another MP Sai Pratap said Congress committed a mistake by expelling them. He said those who expelled them would bite the dust.

IANS