JAC GIVES JAN 28 DEADLINE ON TELANGANA STATEHOOD

After major differences threatened to tear them apart, the all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) finally got its act together at a meeting here on Tuesday and decided to give time till January 28 for the Centre to make an announcement on the separate state issue, failing which they will press for the acceptance of the resignations of the elected representatives from all parties in the region. But till this unanimous decision that was reflected in the resolution read out by JAC convenor M Kodandaram at the end of the meeting, serious differences over the resignations issue polarised the TRS, BJP and Telangana PRP on the one side and the Congress and the TDP on the other.

In a day of political oneupmanship , the TRS held a meeting of its politburo ahead of the all-party meeting and decided to stage a dharna outside the AP Assembly Speakers office on January 18 and press for the acceptance of their resignations. Similarly, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao and Medak MP Vijayashanti will exert pressure on the Lok Sabha speaker to accept their resignations, it decided.
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Cong, TDP not to bite TRS bait

After TRS decision on Tuesday to hold a dharna outside the state Assembly Speakers office on January 18 to press for acceptance of their resignations , the Telangana Congress and TDP leaders also held their respective meetings on Tuesday morning before coming to the JAC wherein they independently decided that they will not give in to the pressure from the TRS on the resignation issue. The TRS has 10 MLAs, one MLC and two MPs. It wants to dictate terms to the Congress which has 51 legislators and the TDP with 39 MLAs which is not acceptable to us, said a Congress leader.

While the Congress decided to oppose the TRS strategy on the grounds that the latter only wanted to bring about a constitutional crisis in the state and ensure Presidents Rule, the TDP leaders too decided that they would consult their leader N Chandrababu Naidu before taking a decision on the resignations issue. At the JAC meeting, the Congress and TDP leaders told KCR that they were opposed to what they called unilateral decision of the TRS to hold a dharna outside the speakers office on January 18 and told him that it was unacceptable to them. To make matters worse, Madiga leader Manda Krishna used the platform to charge both the Congress and the TDP of playing a double game on the Telangana issue, which led to vociferous protests from the leaders of the two parties.

However, just when it appeared that there would be no consensus, the political leaders struck a deal by which the TRS decided to climb down and put off its threatened protest outside the speakerss office from the scheduled January 18, and the Congress and BJP agreeing to the new deadline of January 28 to wait for an announcement from the Centre on the Telangana issue. But even after the resolution was announced by Kodandaram, the non-political organisations that are part of the JAC said they were unhappy with the decision. Minutes after the JAC political leaders left the venue, Krishna Madiga said what was announced was a decision of the political parties and that the Telangana organisations were not consulted. On this note, a contentious meeting of the JAC ended and the political leaders resolved to keep up the movement till January 28 by staging relay hunger strikes across the region.

The JAC also resolved that the people of the region should boycott the products manufactured by anti-Telangana business houses. Further, all cases registered against the students should be taken back, and that Telangana flags and stickers should be hoisted and put up in all homes and vehicles in the region. It also resolved that the Telangana Talli song should be sung in all schools and state government employees should attend officer wearing black badges.
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A padayatra for T

The joint action committee of Osmania University student unions has decided to take out a padayatra covering over 350 kms from Hyderabad. They propose to walk from Hyderabad to Bhadrachalam in the first phase and to take out another yatra of North Telangana districts later. According to JAC leader Manvata Rai, the purpose of this yatra is to put pressure on the Centre to see that it introduces a bill for carving separate Telangana during the budget session of the Parliament . The JAC members on Tuesday called on the home minister Sabita Indra Reddy and sought her the permission for the proposed padayatra.
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(SOURCE : TOI)