The Centre's challenge to create a new Telangana state before the national elections - a move designed for electoral gain - just became more formidable.
President Pranab Mukherjee has given the Andhra Pradesh legislature another week to discuss the bill that outlines how India's 29th state will be carved out of Andhra Pradesh.
The union government, led by the Congress, wants to introduce the bill which sanctions the new state in the Budget Session of Parliament, which starts on February 5. This is the last time that Parliament will meet before the national elections, due by May. So if the bill is not cleared, Andhra Pradesh will remain undivided for the polls.
That's what many leaders from the state are desperate for, including Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy who has declared that the state will not be divided on his watch. He had asked for four weeks more to debate the bill, which would have ensured that the proposal would not be considered by Parliament before the elections.
The feedback of the Andhra Pradesh assembly on the bill is not binding on the Centre. But if the bill is defeated in the state legislature, the Congress could find it tough to get the proposal cleared in Parliament. The main opposition party, the BJP, has also reportedly decided to oppose the proposal.
Telangana, one of the three regions of Andhra Pradesh, has been campaigning for decades for statehood, arguing that its resources are unfairly exploited by the two other regions, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema.
Those parts are worried about losing their share of water and the rich economy of Hyderabad, the IT hub that has been assigned for 10 years as a shared capital between the old and new states, after which it will belong to Telangana.
Leaders from Seemandhra say their voters will punish them if the state is divided.
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