The Congress party was left red-faced with embarrassment after 10 party MPs from Telangana, nine Lok Sabha Members and one Rajya Sabha Member, stayed away from attending the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament which began on Monday.
The ten MPs’ decision to skip appearance from the Parliament came a day after the High Command, through its representative in the form of party In-Charge for Andhra Pradesh Affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad made futile attempts to get them to relent. Mr Azad had called up Mr Kesava Rao twice yesterday, once each to Telangana Congress Steering Committee co-chairmen Kesava Rao and K Jana Reddy, asking them to ensure that the MPs do attend the opening day of the Monsoon Session.
However, the MPs had rejected Mr Azad’s persuasive attempts and instead said that they would continue to work for the creation of a separate Telangana state. Karimnagar MP Ponnam Prabhakar told media persons that the MPs would not attend since their only demand was a “separate Telangana state.”
The Congress will further continue its attempts the MPs to attend Parliament during their meeting with Mr Azad, scheduled for Monday evening. Incidentally, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told media persons on Sunday that, “We will overcome the resignations issue.”
Legislators from Telangana, cutting across party affiliations had tendered their resignations en masse from July 4 in protest against the Centre's delay in announcing the formation of a Telangana state.However, a decision on the MPs’ resignations has not been taken yet, while Assembly Speaker Nadendla Manohar has already rejected the resignations of the MLAs.