'Dilution of stand on Telangana to have serious affects'

New Delhi, Dec 22 (PTI) The Congress party and Indian
government headed by it appear to have been caught in a cleft
with Telangana MPs (Members of Indian Parliament) Tuesday
stepping up pressure and warning of "serious repercussions" if
the decision on separate statehood is "diluted".

Congress MPs from Telangana, lying low for sometime,
suddenly stepped up their campaign and are understood to have
dashed off a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
and party chief Sonia Gandhi Tuesday threatening the
leadership that they were "ready to resign and join the
movement for a separate Telangana state", one of them said on
condition of anonymity.
The party high command and the government apparently
had no immediate steps to lessen the tension despite a two-
hour meeting of the Congress Core Group late Monday night and
a series of consultations Tuesday.
MPs from Rayalaseema and Coastal Andra Pradesh had
meetings with Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister M
Veerappa Moily and Political Secretary to Congress party
president Ahmed Patel to find a way out of the present
imbroglio.
They had Monday claimed that the government would
come out with a statement in a day or two to put "everything
in order" in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.
However, there was no assurance from the leadership so
far on their demand for a statement that would help pacify the
sentiments of the people in the areas of Andhra Pradesh other
than Telangana.
The MPs who met these leaders included Y S Jaganmohan
Reddy, son of late Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy, K S
Rao and K V P Ramachandra Rao. Union Ministers D Purandraswari
and Panabaka Lakshmi were also present.
The refrain of these MPs was that they cannot go back
to their constituencies unless the Indian Government gave a
statement mollifying the people in their areas as the
situation was "worsening day-by-day". (More) PTI SPG
ANU


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