Two months after Lagadapati Rajagopal called on Speaker Meira Kumar and submitted his resignation from the Lok Sabha,the Congress MP from Vijayawada met her again last week. But the matter rests where it was. No,I havent withdrawn my resignation, Rajagopal said,confirming that he met the Speaker a couple of days ago in this regard. I can speak to you on the matter after a fortnight, he added. Sources said Rajagopal is under pressure from the Congress leadership not to press for his resignation because it would reignite passions on both sides over the Telangana issue. The party had,in fact,served Rajagopal with a show-cause notice after he submitted his resignation to the Speaker and undertook an indefinite fast against a division of Andhra. He had also appealed to the party leadership to allow conscience vote in the Andhra Assembly,which,according to him,would demonstrate that 225 of the 294 members are against the formation of a separate state of Telangana. Credited with chief ministerial ambitions,Rajagopal,46,has no intention of taking his resignation back. It would destroy his credibility and impair his long-term interests. His display of bravado was actually designed to extend his appeal beyond the borders of his lok Sabha constituency.
