EDITORIAL Even as all eyes are on the cabinet meeting on Tuesday that will consider the Group of Ministers (GoM) report on Telangana, indications are that the proposals may not get approved as it is. In fact with continued pressure from the Seemandhra lobby, highly placed sources aver that the cabinet may decide to look minutely at the proposals and may not clear it in one sitting.
The proposals before the cabinet envisage creation of Telangana with 10 districts of the present Andhra Pradesh state with its capital being Hyderabad.
The city – the municipal limits of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation – will be the joint capital of Telangana and the residuary Andhra Pradesh for 10 years. Law and order and land matters in this area will be dealt with by a Union government representative –a lieutenant governor.
However, there is still pressure on the government to create Rayala-Telangana state instead of Telangana. By this, two districts of Rayalaseema – Anantapur and Kurnool – will be added to the new state. This will divide the present Andhra Pradesh neatly into two parts – with each of the two states having 21 seats each in Lok Sabha.
If the Cabinet decides to examine the proposal for Rayala-Telangana and other issues, then the drafting of the bill for creation of Telangana will be delayed. This might make it difficult to place the bill before Lok Sabha in the winter session. The winter session will begin on December 5 and will end on December 20. “In that case, the bill can only be placed only in the budget session next year,” averred a political analyst.
Interestingly, the budget session will be just before the general elections slated for April–May 2014 and it is unlikely to see transaction of any serious matters. Even the budget is likely to be only a vote-on-account. However, Congress sources asserted that the bill would be put before Lok Sabha in the winter session. “Otherwise, we will be wiped off in both parts of Andhra Pradesh- Telangana area for not going ahead and in the Seemandhra area where the party has already lost steam.
This possible delay by the Congress might suit the interests of other political parties – including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On paper, the BJP is all for smaller states and Telangana. But after the accession of Narendra Modi there is a rethink in the party. The feeling of a significant section in the leadership is that the party has more to gain in the Seemandhra region than in Telangana.
Meanwhile, indications are that chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and some of his cabinet colleagues will resign from their posts, the moment the Telangana bill is sent to the assembly by the President. This will create a crisis and make it impossible to establish a new Congress government.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) – though not on record – might see the delay in creation of Telangana as an opportunity. “This will keep the Telangana issue alive and the party being the only one taking forward the separate state cause can sweep the region in the next polls,” political analysts said.
YSR Congress chief Jagan Reddy has stepped up his offensive against division of the state. After meeting West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav to seek their support for a united state, Jagan has started heavily attended road shows in the Seemandhra region pitching for the same.
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