NEW DELHI: Defying the directive issued by the party, six Congress MPs from Telangana boycotted the Parliamentary proceedings on Thursday, the first day of the winter session, and staged a protest in support of their demand for a separate state.
The Congress had asked its MPs to be present in the House on the grounds that important business was scheduled to come up for discussion. However, demanding introduction of Telangana bill in House, MPs Manda Jagannadham , Madhu Yaskhi Goud, Gutha Sukhender Reddy, Ponnam Prabhakar, G Vivekananda and S Rajaiah boycotted the proceedings and staged a dharna at the entrance of the Parliament House.
The MPs displayed placards carrying slogans 'Delay is the denial of Telangana' , 'The delay caused the death of 600 youths' , etc. The Congress, however, ignored the dharna. No emissary came forward to persuade the MPs to attend the House. Only RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav walked up to the Telangana MPs and expressed his solidarity .
The MPs are said to be aware that the party high command is cool to their demand, but still wanted to stage a vocal protest before deciding their next course of action, which could include quitting the party and floating their own forum .
"We will continue to defy the whip including with reference to any no-confidence motion that could come up in Parliament until the Congress makes a positive statement on Telangana ," Nagarkurnool MP Manda Jagannadham said. "If necessary, we would enter the House and disrupt the proceedings," he added.
Expressing displeasure at the inordinate delay on the part of the Congress in taking a decision on Telangana , Jagannadham said that the very survival of the party in the region is at stake in view of its dillydallying .
He accused the party of getting influenced by Seemandhra leaders, unmindful of the damage being done to the party in Telangana .
People in Telangana would not be satisfied with ministerial berths and packages, he said.
"Nothing short of a separate state will save the party in the region. Once it becomes clear that the Congress is backing out on its promise, the party will disappear from the region," he cautioned.
Six T-Cong MPs boycott Lok Sabha
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Six T-Cong MPs boycott Lok Sabha
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Six T-Cong MPs boycott Lok Sabha