The meeting took place on a day when angry Telangana activists attacked the residences of MP Madhu Yaskhi in Nizamabad and IT minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah in Warangal.The agitated MPs first wanted to address their resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker and send it to Congress president Sonia Gandhi with the ultimatum that she forward the letters in case the Telangana Bill is not introduced in Parliament in the Budget Session.However,we then decided to pass a resolution and wait for the high command to act first, said one MP. The pressure tactic of the Telangana Congress MPs on the UPA government comes at a time when it is facing flak over several scams including the 2G.If the Telangana Congress MPs carry out their threat,the UPA government can plunge into a minority, said a leader.
This is because in a House of 543 members,the UPA has a strength of only 258 MPs.Needing a simple majority of 272 members,the UPA could could win the vote of confidence in July 2008 only with the help of 21 MPs of the BSP,3 of the JD (S),one of JVM and 6 independents.Much has changed in the national political scenario since the last vote of confidence.It is highly unlikely that the UPA can survive a trust vote if it is forced now, said Congress sources. At Fridays meeting,the MPs discussed the recommendations of the Srikrishna Committee report and felt that rather than voice any opposition to the report,putting pressure on the Congress high command to introduce the Bill on Telangana would be a better option.In fact,it was endowments minister J Krishna Rao who set the tone by stating that he would not continue in the Kiran ministry if the T bill is not introduced in Parliament.This led to the MPs passing a resolution to that effect.We will finalise an action plan to mount pressure on the leadership to complete the process initiated by Union home minister P Chidamabaram after a week, a senior leader told TOI. The meeting also urged Union minister Jaipal Reddy and PCC president D Srinivas to make their stand clear and take up the leadership of the movement instead of keeping aloof.
T-RESOLVE : Congress MPs from Telangana region come out of Nizam Club after a meeting to chalk out an action plan for separate Telangana in the wake of the publication of the Srikrishna Committee report,in the city on Friday
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OU turns war zone;students lob petrol bombs
Clashes on the Osmania University campus intensified on Friday after the students lobbed a variation of Molotov cocktails at the security forces and torched at least 10 vehicles in and around the campus even as the cops fought back with lathis,stun grenades and rubber bullets on a day which saw pitched battles between the two and showed no signs of abating. In the violence that began at 10.30 am and lasted till 7 pm,at least 12 students and three security personnel were injured.The police fired over 200 rounds of tear gas shells,40 rounds of stun grenades and 15 rounds of rubber bullets while the agitating students answered with stones at first and later improvised it with Molotov cocktails in which beer bottles were filled with petrol and lobbed at the security forces.
After a violent stand-off the previous day,the students numbering about 400 took out a rally from Arts College to the NCC gate at Vidyanagar around 10.30 am and wanted to proceed to Gun Park at the state assembly.However,on being denied permission,they started pelting stones at the security personnel near the Vidyanagar gate of the campus.The cops retaliated with tear gas shells and rubber bullets and the stand-off continued till 12.30 pm.The students were finally dispersed from that point.While retreating, the students stared pelting stones again at the security forces stationed at an entry point near the Ladies Hostel to which the cops again replied with tear gas shells and rubber bullets.The second round of clash lasted for more than an hour. Around 2.40 pm,the students regrouped at the Arts College and after a brief meeting,marched towards B Hostel.It was from here that the students from inside the hostel started lobbing Molotov cocktails and took the cops by surprise even as those outside pelted the security forces with stones.
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DIRECTIVE TO DGP - SHRC seeks report on OU incidents
The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has sought a detailed report from the state DGP by January 11 on police action against the protesting students on the Osmania University campus. The SHRC was reacting to two separate petitions filed here on Friday by two groups Telangana Lecturers Forum and Junior Advocates Association of Telangana seeking its intervention in withdrawing the police force deployed on the Osmania University campus.The petitions described the police firing on Thursday as a violation of human rights of students and stated that the protesting groups had only reacted in a democratic manner to the Srikrishna Committee report.
It is sad that it turned out to be clash between security personnel and the students.We appreciate the governments efforts to safeguard the law and order situation but the law protectors have only managed to terrorise the students by using tear gas shells to disperse them, the Telangana Lecturers Forum stated in its petition.Also by keeping the media out of the campus,the events as they happened there did not reach people at large,said the petition. The Junior Advocates Association of Telangana stated in its petition that the armed forces injured some students while controlling them on campus.We demand that the state government withdraw the forces at the earliest and also give the media a free access to the university premises, the association stated in its petition. Reacting to the two petitions,the SHRC called for a detailed report from the DGP by January 11.We can only call for reports and give directions based on their findings.To go and physically inspect the university campus is beyond our jurisdiction, said K Peda Peri Reddy,acting chairperson of SHRC.
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Bandh near total in Telangana-Vehicular Traffic Hit;Ministers,Elected Representatives Gheraoed
While schools and colleges shut for the day in the entire Telangana region,shops,petrol bunks and cinema theatres also remained closed in Warangal and Nizamabad towns on Friday following the bandh call given by the Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) in protest against the police action on the students at Osmania University on Thursday. Though no violence was reported,life was paralysed at several places with the protesters resorting to road blockades,burning of effigies of Justice Srikrishna and staging dharnas and rasta rokos.Giving vent to their ire,the agitators also climbed atop water tanks,laid siege to the houses of T-ministers and MLAs and formed human chains. Though RTC operated its buses,vehicles were stranded for several kilometres at important junctions,highways and roads leading to Warangal,Nizamabad,Medak,Karimnagar and Khammam.Students brought the traffic to a grinding halt on the NH-9 at Kodad in Nalgonda district,while vehicular movement was thrown out of gear at Moosaipet on NH-7 im Medak district.In the morning,tension prevailed on the Kakatiya University campus when the students burnt an effigy of Chidamabaram.They shouted slogans against the police for arresting TRS Vidyarthi leader Vasudeva Reddy and two others in connection with Thursdays stoning of two RTC buses.The trio was remanded to judicial custody later.
The agitators held a massive rally at the Clocktower centre in Nalgonda,and 2,000 students formed a human chain in Medak town.Siddipet MLA Harish Rao led the protests.Government employees undertook lunch-hour protests in their offices in support of the bandh by wearing black badges.Over 2,000 Singareni workers staged a rasta roko in Manuguru in Khammam district lambasting the committee report.They later burnt the copies of the report. The activists shouted Jai Telangana slogans and took out huge rallies in Mahbubnagar, Siddipet, Utnoor,Adilabad,Jangaon,Mahbubabad,Dubbaka,Metpalli and several other towns in the region.Ten protestors,including TRS mandal president M Yakaiah,climbed atop a water tank at Chennuru village in Palakurthy mandal of Warangal demanding the immediate resignation of Palakurthy MLA Errabelli Dayakar Rao (TDP) and Parakala MLA Konda Surekha (Congress).They continued their stir for over five hours.Advocates and scribes also took out rallies in several towns in support of the bandh.
In Haliya mandal in Nalgonda,the activists gheraoed the house of minister K Jana Reddy and demanded his resignation.The TRS activists stopped the vehicle of TDP MP Ramesh Rathod at Utnoor demanding his resignation.In Bheemgal mandal of Nizamabad,four youth climbed a cell tower demanding resignation of PRP MLA from Balkonda E Anil Kumar. ZP territorial constituency members of Birkur mandal and sarpanch of Thirki village in Birkur mandal tendered resignations from their posts.While medical employees formed a massive human chain in front of the bus stand in Nizamabad,TNGO employees boycotted duties and staged a dharna at the collectorate.
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(source-toi)
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