Now, KCR & partner stall Lok Sabha

NEW DELHI: Striking a defiant note, eight Congress MPs from Telangana, who were suspended for four days last week, boycotted Parliament on Monday.The MPs will take a call on whether to attend the rest of the Budget session on Wednesday.The MPs -- Madhu Yaskhi, G Vivekanand, Ponnam Prabhakar, Sukhender Reddy, M Jagannath, K Rajagopal Reddy, Balram Naik and S Rajaiah -- were suspended from Parliament for four days last Tuesday after they disrupted proceedings.While these eight MPs stayed away, their counterparts from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), K Chandrasekhar Rao and Vijayashanti, made up for their absence by working up a high decibel level in the Lok Sabha and stalling proceedings.Soon after the Lok Sabha assembled for the day, Vijayashanti and Chandrasekhar Rao took up slogans on Telangana and squatted in the well of the house.Speaker Meira Kumar adjourned the proceedings till noon after leader of the opposition Sushma Swaraj pleaded for Question Hour to be set aside to allow Pranab Mukherjee to make a statement on the Telangana issue.When the House reassembled at noon, the TRS duo went back to their positions in the well.The two continued shouting slogans but walked out when JD-U leader Sharad Yadav raised the issue of farmers, although he too extended support to Telangana.Earlier, Swaraj said the issue of separate Telangana has been agitating the minds of the people of the region and the protest by the two TRS members was a reflection of the popular demand."These people have been waiting for the past two and a half years since the home minister's announcement on the formation of the state on Dec.9, 2009," she said.The Telangana issue figured in home minister P Chidambaram's monthly press conference Monday, but what he said indicated there has been no movement on the matter.All the home minister said was that the Centre will respond "as soon as possible".Chidambaram appealed to Telangana MPs, including those belonging to his party, to allow Parliament to function. "Our appeal is to let the House function.Whatever discussions have to be held can be held outside the House. They are always welcome to meet leaders who are dealing with the Telangana issue like Ghulam Nabi Azad and now Vayalar Ravi." he said.