TDP, Congress leaders in a war of words at Telangana dharna

The differences within the all-party Telangana Joint Action Committee (JAC) came to the fore today with the leaders of Opposition Telugu Desam and ruling Congress indulging in a war of words during a sit-in here.

Participating in the `dharna' at Mahatma Gandhi statue in the assembly premises as part of the week-long agitational programmes, senior TDP MLA N Janardhan Reddy took exception to the presence of only four Congress leaders.

"The JAC was born in the residence of Congress leader Jana Reddy. We were criticised for not joining the JAC immediately. Now, only four Congress leaders have come for this programme. We have planned to trigger a Constitutional crisis if we don't get a positive response from the Centre. That crisis would be possible only if Congress leaders cooperate," he said.

Janardhan Reddy's remarks were countered by Congress MLA C Mutyam Reddy, who wondered what the TDP leaders had done when they were in power in the state. The TDP leaders, however, pointed out that Mutyam Reddy was in TDP when the party was in power.