Hyderabad:
The political Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Telangana on Tuesday extended the deadline for the UPA government to spell out timeframe on the formation of the new state till January 28. After that, all elected representatives in Telangana will resign.
Earlier, the JAC meeting witnessed ugly scenes following certain comments made against Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president Chandrababu Naidu and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi by Dalit leader Manda Krishna.
All hell broke loose at that stage as supporters of Krishna on one side and Congress and TDP workers on the other rushed on to the stage and shouted at each other at the top of their voice.
In the din, Damodar Reddy angrily charged towards Krishna as former home minister Jana Reddy tried to block his party colleague.
In an oblique reference to the Dalit leader, Reddy reminded that they were among the first legislators from Telangana to tender their resignations after the December 23 statement.
"We have remained very serious on our resignations and not taken them back even after our high command directed us do so. Telangana is important for us than posts," he asserted.
Meanwhile, apparently caught on the defensive, Congress leaders from Telangana asserted that they were serious about securing statehood to the region and causing a political crisis through their resignations.
"If required, we are even thinking about breaking away from the party," senior MLA and former home minister K Jana Reddy announced even as the Congress came under attack over its soft approach towards the Telangana issue.
Jana Reddy even said that Congress leaders from the region were even "challenging" their high command over the statehood issue.