AP: JAC gives ultimatum to Congress on Telangana

Hyderabad: The Telangana Political Joint Action Committee (JAC) on Wednesday threatened to intensify the separate statehood agitation once again if the ruling Congress fails to make its stand clear on the issue before the Parliament resumes for the second part of the Budget session on April 24.

Congress should clear its stand on Telangana issue as it had promised to deliver the separate state in the 2004 and 2009 elections, JAC convener M Kodandaram told reporters in Hyderabad.

The MPs and MLAs of Congress should put pressure on their party leadership towards accepting the separate statehood demand, the JAC convenor said in the background of the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement last month that four political parties in Andhra Pradesh - Congress, TDP, MIM and YSR Congress -were yet to make up their mind about their stand on Telangana.

Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy and state Panchayat Raj Minister K Jana Reddy have an important role to play in the process as they are key Telangana leaders at the Centre and state respectively, the JAC convenor claimed.

The TDP has failed to mount pressure on the Congress towards accepting separate state demand, he said.

The JAC would undertake rallies between April 10 to 20 to expose two major parties, the JAC leader said.

Appealing to the Telangana youth not to take the extreme step of ending their lives for the cause, he maintained that the alleged suicides would stop if the separate state demand is accepted.

Asked if the differences between the TRS and BJP, both constituents of JAC, that cropped up during the recent Mahabubnagar bypoll, would impact the unity of the front, Kodandaram replied in the negative.

The differences between the two parties should not pose any problem in chalking out agitations, the JAC convener said.

Upset over the TRS unilaterally announcing its decision to contest the Mahabubnagar assembly bypoll, the BJP went ahead and fielded its candidate, who won.

The bypoll in Mahabubnagar was necessitated due to the death of sitting MLA.