Seemandhra Gears up to Fight Tooth And Nail

telangana tangle, seemandhra leaders, samaikyandhra agitation, united andhra movement, telangana separate state demand, telangana assembly resolution While the Telangana Congress leaders are still undecided on suspending their agitation in view of party president Sonia Gandhi's health condition, the Seemandhra Congress leaders are upping the ante by deciding to urge the Congress high command to direct the state to pass an assembly resolution for any issue that pertains to the interests of all the three regions of the state. Emboldened by the high command's stand on both Telangana and deletion of Clause 14F from the Presidential Order, the Seemandhra leaders are expected to insist on such resolutions when they meet AICC general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi on August 10, Congress sources said.
   
According to a senior leader from the Seemandhra region, this condition would permanently close the doors for the Telangana leaders to move any proposal that would hurt the interests of the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions. In the 294-member Assembly, the Seemandhra region accounts for 175 MLAs while there are only 119 members from Telangana. The Seemandhra leaders are scheduled to meet Azad as part of the consultations he initiated, on August 10 to put forth their point of view on separate Telangana state. After taking the views of Telangana leaders on the issue, Azad now wants to take the views of party leaders from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra.
   
Convener of the Seemandhra MLAs and state minister S Sailajanath said a resolution favoring Telangana state would never get the Assembly nod as majority members were opposed to it. "The fate of the resolution is obvious. It would be defeated if moved at any time. They (TCongress leaders) should stop day dreaming of getting a resolution adopted in Assembly," he said.
Stating that a 16-member team would go to Delhi on Wednesday to participate in the talks with Azad, he said they would oppose the Telangana state tooth and nail. Gade Venkata Reddy, another senior leader from the Seemandhra region, backed Union home minister P Chidambaram's opinion on the Assembly resolution. "Chidambaram was correct when he said afresh Assembly resolution was required for taking up either the Telangana state issue or for deletion of 14F," Reddy said.