'Larger Telangana' Sparks Bigger Storm In Andhra Pradesh

By Renuka Rao | Hyderabad

Protests have begun in Andhra Pradesh against the Centre's plan to redraw the boundaries of the proposed Telangana state to make it larger than originally planned. The move is seen by the ruling Congress as politically beneficial ahead of the national elections, due by May, but has been red-flagged by all Telangana politicians, including those from the Congress. 

Here are the latest updates:

• Shops and many schools in the Telangana region are shut and bus services were hit as political activists protested near bus stations. 
• A group of ministers tasked with preparing a roadmap for India's 29th state reportedly recommended after a meeting last night that two districts of Rayalaseema - Kurnool and Anantpur - be added to the 10 Telangana districts to create what could become 'Rayalatelangana." That would give the old and new states 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly seats each.
• A key politician of the region, K Chandrasekhara Rao or KCR, has called a total bandh or strike in the Telangana region on Thursday as part of his threatened agitation against the Rayalatelangana plan.
• KCR fronted the campaign that led to the government announcing the creation of Telangana by dividing Andhra Pradesh. The residuary state will have the regions of Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra. For 10 years, the IT hub of Hyderabad will be a shared capital after which it will belong to Telangana.
• Telangana politicians oppose Rayalatelangana as they say voters there would blame them for allowing non-Telangana districts to access the region's water and other resources.
• But the Congress sees in 'Rayalatelangana' a way of limiting the influence of both KCR and another major player, Jaganmohan Reddy of the YSR Congress, who has a strong base in Rayalaseema and stands to lose a chunk of his bastion to Telangana.
• Sources say the Congress is hoping that electoral gains from the equal division of seats will compensate for any anger that the party might face in Seemandhra.
• In Seemandhra, the Congress' own leaders including Chief Minister Kiran Reddy vehemently oppose bifurcation and thousands of protesting government employees struck work for over two months, disrupting power supply and other essential services.
• The BJP has accused the Congress of reviving the Rayalatelangana proposal as part of a larger gameplan to scuttle the creation of the new state and mollify Seemandhra.
• The Group of Ministers has reportedly prepared a report on issues related to the distribution of assets, sharing of water and demarcation of boundaries. The panel is believed to have recommended special status for both states.