Constitutional Crisis in South Indian State AP:MLAs, MPs RESIGN

Hyderabad, July 4  Amidst a high-voltage political drama in pursuance of the demand for a separate State, the Telangana ministers and legislators on Monday submitted their resignations en masse creating an unprecedented Constitutional crisis in the State.

            When last reports came in, as many as 75 MLAs, including 11 ministers out of a total of 117 MLAs, from the Telangana region have resigned their membership from the Assembly. Even 20 MLCs quit their seats from the Upper House.

            Nine out of 12 Congress MPs from the Telangana region are expected to submit their resignations to the Lok Sabha Speaker in the evening. The three MPs, who did not sail with the others, were Union Minister Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, Mr Anjan Kumar Yadav and Mr Sarve Satyanarayana though they expressed their support for separate State. The Telugu Desam MPs are likely to leave for Delhi this evening and planning to join hands with their Congress counterparts.

            While 36 out of 53 Congress MLAs, including 11 ministers, have resigned, all the 37 Telugu Desam members, including four rebels of the party put in their papers. Two PRP members, Mr Anil and Mr Maheshwar Reddy also followed suit.

            The atmosphere in an around the State Assembly premises was electrified since early morning with the police enforcing strict security measures and even imposed prohibitory orders in the area. Entry into the Assembly premises was restricted to only the members and the media personnel after a thorough checking.

            As a matter of fact, both the Congress and Telugu Desam members tried to play oneupmanship in the resignation drama. The Congress members have made it known on July 1 that they would resign on July 4. However, the four rebel TDP members led by Dr Nagam Janardhan Reddy tried to outwit the Congress by sending their resignations on Sunday itself. However, since it being a holiday their resignations reached the Deputy Speaker only this morning.

            Amidst mounting suspense about the number of members planning to resign, the TDP members met in the TDP Legislature Party Office. In the beginning, they had decided to submit their resignations only after all the Congress men put in their papers in the correct format. To become the first member to resign, the Jubilee Hills legislator, Mr P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy, arrived at 9 am sharp and handed over his papers to the Deputy Speaker, Mr Mallu  Bhatti Vikramarka.

            Since his resignation letter was not in the required format, he had to submit another one in the correct form. Mr K. Laxma Reddy, Congress member from Medchal and Ms Konda Surekha, a staunch supporter of Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy handed over their resignation letters even as other Congress members and ministers were closeted in a meeting at the residence of Panchayat Raj Minister, Mr K. Jana Reddy.

            In the meantime, in a surprise move, 28 TDP members in person handed over their resignations to the Deputy Speaker along with the faxed letters of five others who are abroad. The resignations of the four rebels also reached the Deputy Speaker by that time. Thus, all the 37 TDP members en masse resigned outwitting the Congress members.

            Around 11.45 am, Mr Jana Reddy, accompanied by four of his ministerial colleagues, Dr Geetha Reddy, Mr Ponnala Laxmaiah, Mr Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and Mr B. Saraiah, personally submitted their resignations to the Deputy Speaker. Mr Saraiah also handed over the resignations of six other ministers. Soon after the Congress members in groups came and put in their papers.

            The 20 members of the Legislative Council --- 13 of the Congress and seven TDP – have submitted their resignation letters to the Chairman, Dr Chakrapani.

            Interestingly, the Deputy Chief Minister, Mr C. Damodar Rajanarasimha, and the three ministers from the city, Mr Danam Nagender, Mr Mukesh Goud and Dr P. Shankar Rao, refrained from resigning. As a matter of fact, Dr Shankar Rao is away in the USA on a tour.

MPS TO MEET SPEAKER AT 5 PM

             While an electrified atmosphere prevailed in the State capital, a tense drama was enacted by the Congress MPs in New Delhi. Though they had an appointment with the Lok Sabha Speaker, Ms Meira Kumar, at 11am to hand over their resignations, they could not come in time. After waiting for some time the Speaker left for home. On finding the Speaker not in her chambers, the Congress MPs sat on a dharna in her office chambers when information reached them about an appointment at 5 pm. The Congress MPs decided to wait in her chambers till evening to hand over their letters.