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Congress in quagmire over Telangana
Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
Supporters raise slogans as the police arrests Lagadapati Rajagopal (in black jacket), a Congress MP from Vijayawada, who was preparing to begin a fast in protest against state's division, in Hyderabad on Monday. — PTI |
New Delhi, December 14
With no visible end in sight to the Telengana crisis, the Congress on Monday admitted that it was plagued by deep inter-party divisions on the proposed state. But, quickly slipping into the firefighting mode, it sought to explain that MLAs and MPs protesting against formation of Telengana were not “rebelling against the party”, but “showing concern against bifurcation” of the state. “They are just showing their concern against bifurcation (of Andhra Pradesh), ” party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said, attempting an active damage control with the situation slipping fast out of control following the deepening divide within the party over the Telengana issue. The worried Congress held hectic parley in the Capital till late this evening to find a way out. Senior Andhra Pradesh leader Janardan Reddy met Congress President Sonia Gandhi to explain the situation to her. A meeting was held between Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue. Senior party leaders admit that they have a situation at hand, but term attempts by both sides, pro and anti-Telengana, as playing to respective vote galleries. Interestingly, even as Ahmed stressed that the Congress backed Home Minister P Chidambaram’s midnight statement despite the much visible divide in the party, a group of anti-Telangana MPs headed by senior Andhra Pradesh leader and MP K S Rao met the Finance Minister today. They said since majority in Andhra was against the formation of Telengana, the government should issue a statement saying that it was ready to step back. Mukherjee assured MPs from coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalseema that the Telangana issue could not be discussed in Lok Sabha unless the Andhra Pradesh Assembly passes a resolution for a separate state. “Mukherjee assured us that the resolution has to come from the state Assembly. Till then, there cannot be a discussion in the Lok Sabha,” Rao added. He said they are expecting a “clarification” from the Centre on the Home Minister’s statement on creation of a separate state last week. “We want a clarification soon to prevent division among people of different regions in the state,” he added. Whereas, 14 pro-Telengana MPs wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, thanking them for the announcement on Telengana. Ahmed admited there were two views in the party on the issue with MPs and MLAs from Telangana being in favour of the division and MLAs and MPs from Rayalseema and Coastal Andhra opposing it. “It is true there is no consensus. There are two kinds of views (in the party) on the formation of Telangana. Leaders from Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra do not want a new state,” he said as he tried to pass the buck on Telangana by saying that further progress was only possible if there was a resolution from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly. When asked about the demand for forming a State Reorganisation Commission, he said the party had no objection if there was consensus, adding that smaller states should be formed, if necessary, and not merely to fulfil “political aspirations” of some people.
BJP sounds like Cong on smaller states
Faraz Ahmad
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, December 14
BJP, which till the other day flaunted its penchant for dividing states and creating smaller ones, is suddenly resiling from it and even counseling some of its past fellow travelers not to precipitate the situation. In the process it is sounding so much like the Congress. It advised and succeeded in persuading the GJM to call off its three-day bandh call for creation of Gorkhaland in the Darjeeling hills which began this morning. BJP Deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said later, “Today Roshan Giri and other Gorkhaland leaders met me, (L.K.) Advaniji and Arun (Jaitely). We asked them about the tripartite talks (being held between the GJM, Centre and West Bengal government). The fourth round is scheduled to be held in Darjeeling on December 21. We wonder why they resort to bandhs and hunger strikes when talks are already underway. Bandhs and strikes are not a solution. Telangana problem is 60 years old.” Sushma virtually sounded like Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee who said yesterday, “The demand for Telangana is 60-year old. This does not mean everywhere new states are to be created.” She said, “(GJM leader) Bimal Gurung’s wife had come here to sit on a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar and Advaniji has appealed to her to end her fast.” Eight months ago, BJP leased out Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh to contest from Darjeeling as a joint candidate of BJP and GJM on separate Gorkhaland electoral plank. Curiously Jaswant Singh expelled from BJP in August, spoke for the first time in the House today and while pressing for Gorkhaland he also appealed to the GJM to withdraw its agitation. He also asked Advani to join the appeal which Advani promptly did and reminded him about the mention of separate Gorkhaland in BJP's manifesto. Singh a resident of Rajasthan, who had all along contested elections from his home state, claimed in Parliament that people of Darjeeling Hills are already "emotionally separated" from rest of West Bengal and added that “Having small states is not a matter of principle but a necessity for administrative efficiency. Be it administrative efficiency or a matter of principle with the BJP, as it used to proclaim till very recently, with ever increasing demands for division of states, the BJP like Congress is uncomfortable with such demands. So on Harit Pradesh the electoral plank on which BJP contested the last general elections with the RLD in UP, the party now claims, “This issue is not before us at the moment.” BJP is even wary of the demand for separate Vidarbha, it had raised for decades now, pleading that “Our ally Shiv Sena is opposed to it.”
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