JOIN USSituation in AP hots up as Chiranjeevi resigns
Meanwhile, Chief Minister K Rosaiah threw up his hands shifting the onus of resolving the issue and restoring normalcy to the Centre. As protests continued in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, Telangana Rashtra Samiti leader K Chandrashekhar Rao dismissed them as “contrived and false”.
With Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi’s resignation, the number of MLAs who resigned since Union Home Minister Chidambaram announced the Centre’s decision to form Telangana state has increased to 141 in the 294-member Assembly.
Speaker Kiran Kumar Reddy has not taken any decision on the resignations.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah said the turbulence in the state had gone beyond the control of the state government. “The issue is not pertaining only to Andhra Pradesh now. It is for the government of India to show us a way to resolve the crisis and help restore normalcy,” he told the media on Thursday.
Admitting that the crisis had paralysed developmental works in the state for the last 20 days, the chief minister urged the people and political parties including the Congress to cooperate in restoring normalcy. Importantly, the crisis had affected the government revenues.
“It has seriously affected the government revenues as businesses remain paralysed. With the transport sector badly affected, it is causing price rise. This is impacting the common people who have also lost their daily earnings because of the strife in different regions,” he said. He, however, did not agree with the contention that the administration has collapsed in the state.
He also denied that the administrative machinery was divided along the regional lines in the wake of the political developments.
Announcing his resignation at a crowded press conference here on Thursday morning, Chiranjeevi said his party which had supported creating Telangana state had changed its stance to support a unified state as majority of the people of the state want to live together.
Moral responsibility
“I have sent my resignation accepting the moral responsibility for this change of policy,” he said. With this, 16 of the 17 PRP MLAs have resigned from the Assembly — 15 in support of united AP and one for Telangana.
Admitting that he had not gauged the people’s mind correctly over the issue, he pointed out that he was not alone in it. “25-year-old TDP and 125-year-old Congress too did not see it,” he said. As the people had come out in favour of unity with intensity, he said it was the duty of the political parties to heed their aspirations. He said the Congress was responsible for the present “alarming situation and deep crisis” in the state and alleged that it took a unilateral and hasty decision in favour of Telangana, without allowing any discussion in the Assembly or Parliament or consulting anybody.
Expressing his gratefulness to the people of Telangana for the love and adoration they gave him, Chiranjeevi hoped that they would understand his latest decision, as it was taken in the best and long-term interests of the Telangana region and its people.
Meanwhile, KCR has said that a falsehood was being promoted that unless the Assembly passes a resolution, a separate state could not be created.
He said according to Article 3 of the Indian Constitution, the Union Cabinet could recommend to the President its decision to create a state who in turn would send the resolution to the state Assembly only for “expression of its view”.
The decision of the Assembly was not binding on the Centre, he said.