“Will anybody really dare to bell the cat?” This question is being raised in Congress circles here on the possibility of Union ministers from Seemandhra defying their party line on the issue of state bifurcation.
The reason for the very arising of this question is that Union ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra are all set to hold a broad-based meeting at Club House in Ministers Quarters’ here on Saturday to chalk out their future course on how to stall the T-process.
As these lawmakers are deeply divided on how to exert pressure on their party high command to stop the process of bifurcation and they had already failed to implement their earlier decision of writing a letter to party chief Sonia Gandhi to request her to reconsider her T-decision, now political circles are curious about the likely outcome of the meeting of these leaders on Saturday.
With the Centre expediting the process to divide the state, the perturbed Union ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra are holding this meeting to take a collective decision. Union ministers Kavuri Sambasiva Rao and JD Seelam are said to be organising this meeting.
Feelers
Interestingly, a day ahead of this meeting some of them sent out feelers that they are ready to quit their posts for the sake of Samaikyandhra. However, how many of these ministers will really take such an extreme step is still a question as there is no unanimity among them on Samaikyandhra.
According to sources, except MM Pallam Raju, Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy and Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, no other minister including K Chiranjeevi is willing to resign for the sake of state’s unity for fear of inviting the wrath of their party president. Afterall, when they had met her before her recent visit to the US, Sonia bluntly told them that she was ready to face any political fallout of her T-decision. Her firm resolve to divide the state has only weakened Seemandhra Union ministers’ ability to take a collective decision to stall the T-process.
Many to skip
Interestingly, V Kishore Chandra Deo and Panabaka Lakshmi might not turn up at the meeting as they are not ready to defy the party line. Some MPs such as Botcha Jhansi Lakshmi and Chinta Mohan may also not take part in the meeting.
Summing up the mood, Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao said he did not expect that all the Union ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra would quit their posts. Rao said the situation in Seemandhra was so surcharged that public representatives were not in a position to enter their constituencies. “Therefore, they should first resign and then join the agitation. Mere holding of meetings will be of no use,” he felt.
However, minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao said there would be some hard decisions at the meeting which might include resignations by Union ministers.