Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy continued to play the rebel with a silent protest at Shakti Sthal in New Delhi aimed at stalling the creation of Telangana state.
Others opposed to the division of Andhra Pradesh are taking the issue to the Supreme Court, which is to consider a clutch of petitions.
Even as ministers, MPs and MLAs do the rounds of senior party leaders in Delhi, there is a growing uncertainty as to whether the Andhra Pradesh Re-organisation Bill will be passed by Parliament before February end.
"It is a touch-and-go situation if the issue is viewed dispassionately," an Andhra minister from the Telangana region told INN Live.
There is increasing speculation that the BJP, which will not oppose the tabling of the Bill in Parliament, may block its passage.
With it, the Congress' plans of salvaging some of the 33 Lok Sabha seats it won in Andhra Pradesh in 2009 will go awry.
Sensing the mood of rival parties to block the passage of the Telangana Bill, the Congress is examining whether a hefty financial package for the Seemandhra region can be an effective countermove, at least for political gains.
If it fails, the Congress is most likely to be decimated in the next Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP, along with the TDP and the CPI-M, contend that they cannot allow the passage of the bill when Congress MPs from the region are opposed to it and disrupt the proceedings of Parliament.
The Congress sees in it a trap to deprive the party of the opportunity of bettering its prospects to win at least half the 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana while being reduced to zero in the Seemandhra region.
However, the BJP and the TDP, which are veering towards an electoral alliance, sense an opportunity to win about two-thirds of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the Seemandhra region and help N. Chandrababu Naidu stage a comeback to office after a decade-long break.
He has had the distinction of being the longest-serving chief minister - a record nine years - before he lost the 2004 assembly elections.
If the Telangana Bill is not passed, the Congress faces a bleak future and the YSR Congress, led by Jaganmohan Reddy, will find it difficult to face the TDP-BJP combine which will gain a decisive edge in several constituencies in the Seemandhra region and leave the field open in Telangana constituencies making it an uphill task for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to show its clout.
Can the Congress prevent the crumbling of its bastion in the south? It appears unlikely.
No comments:
Post a Comment