Is Telangana going to pay for Congress's debacle in the four state elections? The near total decimation of the Congress has encouraged Congress MPs from Seemandhra, TDP, YSR Congress and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy to step up their attack on the creation of a new state. These parties also have the backing of regional parties like the Samajwadi Party, AIADMK, BJD, TMC etc.
The Congress at the Centre is shaken by the scale of defeat. The situation is chaotic. According to some insiders the mood is funeral. Many in the party have already come to the conclusion that the Congress will not retain power in the April-May Lok Sabha polls. They say that the party seems to have lost the political will to go ahead with Telangana in the current winter session of Parliament.
The Congress's decision to create Telangana itself is a cynical political move. The party, which already seems to have lost the Seemandhra region to YSR Congress chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, came out with Telangana proposal to retain at least 17 Lok Sabha seats in the region.
It has taken a huge political risk by doing this. If its efforts don't help the party to retain power at the Centre, it makes no sense to go ahead with Telangana. If the Congress loses, it does not matter whether it has won some seats from Andhra or not.
To it's horror, more than 85 MPs are also backing a no-confidence motion on Telangana. Their number may even go up in the coming days. Bolstered by its stunning performance in the Assembly polls, the main opposition BJP is also expected to make the life miserable for the Congress.
President Pranab Mukherjee is also taking time to send the Cabinet note on Telangana to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for a debate. Because of these reasons, the possibility of Telangana bill getting the nod of Parliament during the current session is also looking very bleak.
A top leader of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which has been leading the agitation for Telangana state, feels that a highly demoralised Congress may not show much interest in the creation of a new state at this juncture.
According to political experts in Andhra Pradesh, even if the Congress does not create Telangana, it will most likely lose both Seemandhra and Telangana regions.
The winter session is expected to end on December 20. If Telangana bill is not cleared in the current session, it is highly unlikely to be tabled before Parliament during the Budget session, if it is held, a month before the Lok Sabha polls.
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