The Centre is reportedly planning to redraw the boundaries of the proposed Telangana state to include two more districts, in a controversial move that the opposition alleges holds political benefits for the Congress.
The proposed new entity called ''Rayala-Telangana' is expected to include the Rayalaseema districts of Anantapur and Kurnool, besides the 10 Telangana districts. The two states carved out of Andhra Pradesh will then each have 21 Lok Sabha and 147 assembly constituencies.
This, sources say, is in the draft report by the Group of Ministers tasked with drawing the roadmap for India's 29th state.
The BJP and the Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS - which has been at the forefront of the agitation for a separate Telangana - have strongly opposed the move. Even Congress leaders from Telangana region are believed to be against it.
But sources say that ahead of the national election due in May, the Congress perceives the Rayala-Telangana proposal as a strategy to trump both the TRS, a dominant force only in Telangana, and the YSR Congress party of Jagan Reddy, who has a strong base in Rayalaseema.
Sources say the Congress is hoping that electoral gains from the equal division of seats will compensate for the anger that the party might face from Seemandhra, where political leaders, including Chief Minister Kiran Reddy, have vehemently opposed bifurcation.
The new formation will have Hyderabad as the common capital for 10 years with the Governor in charge of law and order.
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