With the Congress leadership reportedly inching towards a favourable decision on Telangana statehood demand, a party member of Legislative Assembly and several YSR Congress legislators from non-Telangana regions on Thursday said they have "resigned" in support of united Andhra Pradesh.
Except the YSR Congress' floor leader Y S Vijayamma, all the other 16 MLAs have "quit" their posts "individually", party sources said.
Several YSRCP MLAs, who spoke to the media, said they have quit over the reported move to divide Andhra Pradesh. Alleging that Congress is more concerned about its political future in deciding the Telangana issue, they said the Congress should first spell out its stance over the matter and consult all parties before taking any decision.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Kamalapuram in Kadapa district G Veerasiva Reddy also said he has resigned from his post and from the party. However, with Assembly elections less than a year away, it is unlikely that the Speaker would decide on the "resignations".
Dismissing the resignations by YSRCP MLAs as political opportunism, PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana said the Jaganmohan Reddy-led party should first announce its own stance on the Telangana issue.
The resignations may put pressure on the legislators from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra in the event of the Centre taking a favourable decision on Telangana.
The competitive resignations are not new in Andhra Pradesh ever since the Telangana issue took the centre-stage in 2009. Meanwhile, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is leaving for Delhi on Friday, official sources said. Satyanarayana has already left for the national capital.
The chief minister, PCC president and Deputy Chief Minister C Damodar Rajanarasimha are expected to take part in consultations being undertaken by the Congress high command.
The ministers from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra, who have decided to pursue the demand for undivided state, have begun leaving for Delhi to meet Union Ministers and members of Parliament from the regions.
Some of the Andhra Pradesh ministers and MLAs from Telangana region had a meeting at the residence of state Panchayat Raj minister K Jana Reddy here this evening. Jana Reddy said they would also go to Delhi if necessary to keep up the pressure on high command for separate Telangana.
The Congress Core Group had discussed the Telangana issue earlier this month and decided to refer the long-pending matter to the Congress Working Committee for a final view. The reports said the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body, is likely to meet by this month-end.
