The most apparent emotion in the tirade that broke out across various sections of population as soon as the union cabinet decision on Telangana was announced was anger at the sly way in which it was pushed.
Even as Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde denied that Telangana was an agenda item for the meeting, that a note was sneaked in at the last moment and a unanimous decision was taken on the issue seemed to have rankled most people from Seemandhra.
And YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who has announced a fast unto death in Hyderabad from Saturday morning, sums up the feeling when he said that ‘there has been no scientific approach to the issue and the Congress is misusing its power to take arbitrary decisions.’
The decision leading to a flurry of resignations, long sought by people any way, is a response on expected lines. So are the indignant reactions from those who haven’t resigned so far, but are equally taken aback by UPA’s latest move to set Telangana on fast track. The political leaders from Seemandhra, who have been more or less disowned by the leaders of the mass movement, yet claim that they are upset that their 60-plus days of “Samaikya” movement has been ignored by the Centre.
Efforts are also on to approach various courts over the legality of the bifurcation process.
While most political leaders are simply wringing their hands in despair and making brave noises about defeating a motion in the state assembly, provided the motion will ever be introduced, the Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions have exploded in fury, scaling up the protests and resorting to attacks on the homes of political leaders and vital installations, hitherto an unknown feature of the protests. Earlier, even when lakhs of people had assembled, as with the Kurnool Save Andhra public meeting, the protests had been peaceful.
What prompted the Congress to act in such a stealthy manner?
One interpretation is that it is a feeler to see how high the Seemandhra movement will rise. Perceived as largely an employee-driven movement, it is believed that the Congress party wants to see if it has the potential to become a mass movement.
This is a thought process that is a red herring to the Seemandhra leaders who have retaliated swiftly by blocking national highways and shutting down production in the crucial Vijayawada Thermal power plant, halting production of more than 1260 megawatts, which may lead to a black-out across districts. The 48-hour bandh is also taking a toll on normal life. The police DGP who had yesterday asked the cops not to use any force on people, today asked for an additional 20 companies of CRPF to be deployed in coastal areas.
In an attempt to rectify the situation where APNGOs is taking the lead, Jagan announced a plan to hold a massive public meeting in Hyderabad soon. Other political parties are also trying to find their way into the movement, even as they are trying to project that they have nothing to do with the Congress machinations. Meanwhile, Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu and YSRCP president Jagan continue to growl and snarl at each other, playing out a war game on the sidelines.
Even as Jagan announced his fast, Naidu came out with a fast-unto-death plan too, in Delhi from Monday. His meeting with the TDP Telangana Forum leaders reportedly focussed on how to convince people that the U-turn taken by the party is purely for people’s benefit.
Also interesting is the courtship drama between old flames, the TDP and the BJP, with touching bonhomie between Naidu and Narendra Modi seen in Delhi yesterday; preceded by Modi’s tribute to N T Rama Rao and the BJP’s association with the TDP under NDA, at the BJP public meeting in Hyderabad a few days back.
With bifurcation seeming imminent, it is clear that Naidu wants to get friends with BJP, whose small presence in AP is concentrated in Hyderabad and Telangana districts but is expected to get better, post-bifurcation.
Meanwhile, the question mark on Hyderabad looms large — an already beleaguered city looking like a ripped poster with the ongoing Metro construction.
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