Seema-Andhra MLAs head to Delhi to stall Telangana formation

Ahead of the crucial Congress Working Committee meeting likely to be held in New Delhi on July 28regarding the Telangana issue, MLAs from the Seema-Andhra region have stepped up pressure not to bifurcate the state.

The 175 MLAs from the Seema-Andhra region, especially those from the Congress, are on their way to New Delhi to pressurise the party high command not to take any decision on Telangana.

In all there are 98 MLAs from the Congress from these regions, while the number of Telugu Desam Party MLAs is 44, and 17 from the YSR Congress Party. 15 seats are vacant.

Most of these leaders from the Congress who will be in New Delhi will hold discussions with the senior leaders and urge them not to bifurcate the state.

They feel that no decision on the issue should be taken since the party will suffer badly in the Seema-Andhra region. They feel that the YSR Congress will take the advantage and this could prove fatal to their prospects both in the general and assembly elections.

Although none of these MLAs have said in as many words that they would join the YSR Congress, the threat of them doing so looms large. The YSR Congress has been an opponent of the Telangana movement and they would benefit in case all the leaders from the Congress resign and join them.

This delegation by the Congress MLAs could act as a stumbling block for the Telangana movement. The high command would find itself in an awkward position after this move.

Meanwhile, leaders from the Telangana region too are camping in New Delhi and three of them are seeking the ouster of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy. They feel that the house ought to be dissolved in the state so that the transition involved to bifurcate the state becomes easier.

Image: Telangana supporters protest in Hyderabad

Photograph: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters