Telangana deadline ends; MLAs set to resign

All eyes are on New Delhi as leaders of the Congress from Telangana are still hopeful that the government would announce in the next 24 hours a time-bound programme for carving out the separate state.

The JAC has decided to carry out its threat of en masse resignations if the central government failed to make any announcement by Thursday evening, even as some Congress leaders from Telangana are still camping in the national capital.

The JAC, which held an emergency meeting late Wednesday night, decided that all legislators would go to the assembly speaker's office in a procession and press for the acceptance of their resignations submitted last month.

As many as 77 out of 119 Members of the Legislative Assembly from Telangana had submitted their resignations last month to protest the central government's attempt to put the formation of separate state in cold storage. They included 22 out of 50 legislators of the Congress party.

All 39 legislators of the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) from Telangana have decided to press for the acceptance of their resignations. All 10 legislators of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), and two each of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) have also decided to go ahead with their resignation plans.

While legislators from TDP and other parties want to create a constitutional crisis to force the central government to make a statement, the Congress leaders are reluctant to put their own government in trouble.

However, TRS president K. Chandrasekhara Rao told reporters that Congress legislators would join them Friday if the central government failed to make an announcement.

The JAC, which is demanding the central government announce a time-bound programme to initiate the process for formation of the Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh, is set to hold a crucial meeting Thursday evening to finalise its course of action.

Congress leaders, who stayed away from Wednesday night's meeting, are likely to attend this meeting.

With Telangana students' JAC threatening to lay siege to the houses of the legislators who have not resigned, the Congress legislators are trying to impress upon the central leadership that in the absence of any clear announcement it would be difficult for them to move around in public.