Telangana lawmakers head for Parliament to submit resignations

New Delhi, July 4 (ANI): Congress lawmakers from the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh left for Parliament on Monday to submit their resignations to the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar and the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Mohammad Hamid Ansari.

The lawmakers are demanding the creation of a separate state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh.

Speaking to reporters, G Vivekananda, a lawmaker, said nobody was being forced to resign and whoever was doing so, was doing it voluntarily.

"There is no force on anybody to resign, who all are wanting for Telangana, they are coming. The rest of the people who are unable to resign due to some technical issues and problems, they all are sympathetic towards us; they will defiantly follow soon in this resignation," said Vivekananda.

Reacting to reports of Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy's resignation, Vivekananda said Reddy had agreed on July 3 that if Telangana is not formed, then he would definitely resign.

"He said yesterday that in case a decision is taken that Telangana will not be given, he will definitely resign. He will be part of our 12 members to resign," said Vivekananda.

A group of Congress lawmakers from Telangana met Reddy on Sunday and urged him to join their fight for a separate state by resigning.

The four-decade-old demand for Telangana, which is to be carved out of the economically less developed part of Andhra Pradesh, gathered momentum last year after the federal government, led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Congress party, accepted the demand in principle.

However, the decision triggered a backlash from those opposed to the breaking up of Andhra Pradesh, a politically important state, which sends the highest number of lawmakers from southern India to the national parliament, forcing the ruling Congress-led coalition to backtrack.

The demand for the separate state has seen violent protests and political power play, with more than 300 people killed between 1969 and 1972.

Several protests and shutdowns had brought Andhra Pradesh to a near halt in 2009 and 2010 as pro-Telangana activists persisted with their demand.(ANI)