MPs set June 1 as deadline on Telangana

Telangana Congress MPs on Friday threatened to resign from Parliament if the Centre failed to come out with a statement in favour of separate Telangana by June 1.

The MPs made this demand during a meeting with Union minister and AICC in-charge of state Gulam Nabi Azad in New Delhi. They even refused a joint photo shoot with Seemandhra MPs, forcing Azad to hold a separate meeting with the latter group.

During the two-and-half-hour long meeting, T-Congress MPs presented him two letters that explained the situation in the region. In the first letter they said that the T delay was rendering them incapable of discharging their duties as MPs. "We would rather work as ordinary workers of the party than face the wrath of the people," the MPs noted.

The second letter dealt with the party's stand on Telangana from 2004 when the issue was included in the common minimum program of UPA-1 and said there was no option but to form a separate state.

The 11 MPs told Azad that they expected a statement after Assembly elections in five states get over in May, according to Nizamabad MP Madhu Yashki.

"We are keeping silent as finance minister Pranab Mukherjee recently assured us that the matter would be taken up once the elections in five states get over. He asked us to wait till May 13,'' Yashki told TOI from Delhi.

Another MP Sarve Satyanarayana said a joint meeting or group photo was not possible with Seemandhra MPs at this juncture. "We can't have a cup of tea with the MPs who worked against Telangana when students were committing self immolation.''

Convener of state MPs P Prabhakar said they had also brought the "lies and half truths," in the chapter 8 of Justice Srikrishna panel to the notice of Azad. Rajya Sabha member V Hanumanta Rao said the situation in Telangana was not conducive for MPs to move around in the region.

Later, Azad had a separate meeting with Seemandhra MPs. Ongole MP M Srinivasulu Reddy claimed that Telangana was not discussed. "Since it was the first meeting, Azad wanted to discuss developmental issues pertaining to the state." According to Reddy, Azad did not allow them to raise the T issue even though a couple of MPs tried to broach the subject. G Vinod from Telangana and Kavuri Sambasiva Rao from Seemandhra were the two notable MPs who did not attend the meeting.

Modi Is Not Our PM: Owaisi

MIM is a recognized state political party based in the Indian state of Telangana, with its head office in the old city of Hyderabad, which has its roots in the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen founded in 1927. Unlike most of the regional and national level parties, MIM party leaders ‘fight’ only for the well-being of Muslims, whereas no other party has such communal feelings. In their each and every speech, MIM leaders speak only about Muslims. If these leaders are here to fight for Muslims, then why there are no development works are happening in old city area for decades. Akbaruddin Owaisi faced criticism for making hate remarks on Narendra Modi and Hindus. Recently, his elder brother Asaduddin Owaisi made some notorious annotations. In a one-on-one debate between BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi on the topic of demonetization in a popular Hindi channel, the former left no stone unturned in exposing the latter’s communal designs. Owaisi claimed how most of the Muslim community still remains unbanked and that demonetization has caused severe inconvenience to Muslims. He even went on to say that ATM’s in Muslim-dominated areas weren’t fed enough money. He indirectly alleged that the Modi government hadn’t done anything for Muslims. Even after being pressurized Owaisi didn’t call Narendra Modi as his Prime Minister. He went on said, “Your Prime Minister…” On the other hand, Sambit spoke wisely and called Owaisi a leader of small stature because he talked only of Muslims. He said that no area was Muslim or Hindu and that all areas belonged to India. Owaisi was constantly quoting an RBI report, to which Sambit challenged him to show where the RBI had used the word ‘Muslim’. Sambit even said that if a Muslim leader speaks of Muslims it’s not an issue, but the moment a VHP leader speaks of Hindus people go crazy accusing them of imposing the Hindutva ideology. The most amazing of his counters was to Owaisi’s claims of Muslims not having been brought into the banking system. Sambit said that when banks or ATMs are to be opened in Muslim areas leaders like Owaisi shout that banking is un-Islamic and that Muslims should refrain from it! This video of debate between Sambit Patra and Asaduddin Owaisi is going viral in social media.