Telangana Rashtra Samithi MPs on Monday resigned from the Lok Sabha, accusing Congress of
"breaching the trust" of the region by going back on its poll promise to carve the state out of
Andhra Pradesh. Leading his three MPs out of Lok Sabha, TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao launched a
scathing attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi for going back on promises made in the 2004 poll
campaign, underlining that she was behind all the decisions of the Centre and UPA.
The TRS withdrawal from Parliament marks the end of a bitter feud between the two parties which started
after Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy began to articulate the Congress position
against statehood for the region.
Though UPA had formed a panel headed by foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee to evolve consensus on the
issue, it failed to make much headway, testing the patience of the fledgling outfit facing a tough
time with its electorate. At the same time, Reddy claimed the issue in the region was "development"
and not statehood, provoking TRS to attack him.
Breaking its ties with the UPA, TRS is planning to hit the streets and target Congress as "anti-Telangana"
and "villain No.1". "Congress will be buried in the coming elections. They will have to bite dust.
I am cursing the party on behalf of the people of Telengana for this betrayal," Rao said.
"Sonia and Congress candidates campaigned along with me in the region in 2004, wearing our pink coloured
shawl which had a 'Hail Telangana' inscription and a Telangana map. They shouted slogans in favour of
Telengana even louder than us," he added. Congress and TRS partnered in simultaneous polls to assembly
and Parliament in 2004. While Congress did not explicitly speak of statehood, its complete embrace of
TRS, which had a one-point poll agenda, conveyed the impression that it was tilted towards Telangana.
The issue also created a rift in Congress, with the latter's leadership from Telangana under pressure
to identify itself with the popular sentiment.
But the leadership has thrown its lot behind Reddy. While it is felt creation of Telangana
is fraught with repercussions in coastal and Rayalaseema regions at the hands of arch-rival TDP, the leadership believes that Chandrababu Naidu's strong pitch against statehood poses little threat to its position in the troubled region.
TRS MLAs, MLCs resign
Carrying forward the process of exerting pressure on the Centre to carve out a separate Telangana,
16 MLAs and three MLCs of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) submitted their resignations from the
legislature after accusing the ruling Congress of ‘deceiving’ the people of the region.
In the Legislative Assembly as well as in the Council, TRS members tabled notices for adjournment
of all business to facilitate adoption of a resolution recommending bifurcation of the State. As the
presiding officers of both the Houses rejected their plea, the members handed over their resignations.
