HYDERABAD, July 24 (IANS): All 11 legislators of Telangana Rashatra Samithi (TRS) will submit their resignations again Sunday while Congress and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders from Telangana are meeting separately to chalk out their future course of action after Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker rejected their resignations.
In a statement issued Saturday night from the office of state legislature secretary, Speaker N. Manohar said he was rejecting resignations of all 101 lawmakers from Telangana as they were tendered in emotionally charged atmosphere.
Reacting sharply to this development, TRS announced that all its 11 legislators will submit their resignations again on Sunday.
Over 100 MLAs belonging to various parties had submitted their resignations earlier this month to press the demand for a separate Telangana state. The lawmakers who resigned consisted 47 of ruling Congress, 37 of TDP, 11 of TRS, four of Communist Party of India (CPI) and two of the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP).
Telangana region accounts for 119 seats in the 294-member assembly. The resignations were aimed at creating a constitutional crisis and forcing the central government to take a decision on carving out a separate state.
Interestingly, the speaker`s decision was announced through the office of legislature secretary soon after he boarded a flight to London to attend a Commonwealth speakers` meeting. He is likely to be away till the middle of August.
The speaker, who was in the US when the resignations were submitted, consulted constitutional experts and also met Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar and others before taking a decision.
Reacting sharply to the speaker`s decision, TRS leader K. Chandrasekhara Rao said his party legislators would submit their resignations again. He said they would continue to do so till their resignations are accepted.
TRS legislator Harish Rao termed the rejection of resignations as a `conspiracy against Telangana`. He said the speaker`s decision was unilateral as he did not even consulted the legislators.