Debate over the division of Andhra Pradesh is attaining a feverish pitch with different sections coming up with their own theories. City minister Danam Nagender, who has all through said he is opposed to a separate Telangana and Hyderabad belongs to every one, dropped a bombshell to the protagonists of united Andhra Pradesh and his utterances are music to the ears of Telangana activists.
Nagender said that he had clear indications from the Centre that the State would be divided into Telangana and Andhra and Hyderabad would be continued as the common capital for 10 years. This would also be acceptable to Seemaandhra leaders. He said Hyderabad would not be made into a Union Territory. Even, Minister D Sridhar Babu is confident of the separation, and MP Palwai Goverdhan Reddy is making KCR as the pivot of the entire activity.
However, YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s Sakshi newspaper reported that the Centre had almost decided to divide the State. The decision was already take by the core committee of the Congress. The newspaper, while embedding the copy with necessary safeguards and escape routes to play safe in its presentation of the story, said that the Centre might announce the formation of a separate Telangana and might announce the second States Reorganisation Commission to placate the demands for several other States.
The Congress too is said to have tried Danam Nagender, who used to oppose the separation of the State, as the cue to setting stage for announcing its final call. Danam Nagender’s assertions are apparently seen as the wipers of the smog on the Telugu windshields. The chintan shibir slated for January 18 to 20 at Jaipur is likely to discuss the issue threadbare.
Seemaandhra leaders, who are opposing the formation of the separate State tooth and nail, will likely meet in Delhi on January 17 to send ‘strong signals’ to the Centre against any possible separation. In fact, Sakshi reported that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was opposed to the separation of the
State, while Chidambaram was in favour of the same. An anonymous senior Congress leader was quoted as saying that Sonia Gandhi was not in favour of continuing the imbroglio over the Telangana issue for long.
Some other reports suggested that the Centre had drawn up the plan and frozen on a few decisions and the same was put in a sealed cover. Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had said that the Centre would take a final decision before January 28. The Times of India came up with another report suggesting that the Centre might form a Telangana Territorial Administration on the lines of Gorkha National Hill Council and would be headed by a Chief Executive Officer.
It would consist of councillors or elected representatives and enjoy financial powers. It might not be vested with legislative powers and would be independently handling most of t he administration but remain answerable to the State Legislative Assembly. However, the Telangana leaders are insisting on a separate Telangana with Hyderabad as its capital and they would settle for nothing less than this.
Appointing a committee with a retired Supreme Court judge as its head and a senior IAS officer as a member secretary to formulate the regulations and the necessary framework for the TTA would also be considered with a specific deadline.
However, Seemaandhra leaders, who are cash rich and the industrialists and business magnates, don’t want the separation of the State, for they do not want to lose the Hyderabad advantage. If the Centre forms a two States and still retains Hyderabad as an independent political entity, maybe the opposition from Seemaandhra leaders can be handled easily.
Whatever may the the final decision, the prospects of Congress politically are marred for now. And, by whom is anybody’s guess. No election henceforth would help the Congress politically.
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