Hyderabad, December 31
The political parties in Andhra Pradesh are caught in a Catch-22 situation following the UPA government’s decision to hold an all-party meeting on January 5 to discuss the raging Telangana statehood issue.
All major political players find themselves vertically divided on regional lines with supporters and opponents of Telangana cause hardening their respective positions. In the backdrop of bitter regional divide, the parties are faced with an unenviable task of managing internal contradictions and formulating an official stand on the demand for separate Telangana state.
Out of eight political parties, which have been invited by the Union Home Ministry for the first round of talks in Delhi, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which has been in the forefront of statehood movement, the BJP and the CPI are unambiguous in their support for the bifurcation of the state.
The actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP), the CPM and Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen are in favour of united AP.
However, the two major parties-the ruling Congress and the main opposition Telugu Desam Party
(TDP)-are caught in a piquant situation as they are burdened by regional divide.
While Telangana leaders of both the parties are campaigning for statehood cause, the leaders from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions are rooting for integrated state.
However, the Congress is seeking to draw comfort from the fact that it has initiated the process for formation of Telangana state through consensus-building. The ruling party is keen to push the TDP in a tight spot as the regional party had backtracked on its earlier support for an Assembly resolution on Telangana.
Meanwhile, the Centre’s decision to set the dialogue process rolling has triggered differences among Congress ministers from Telangana region who had earlier submitted their resignation demanding specific time-frame for carving out the new state.
While 11 out of the total 13 Telangana Ministers today decided to withdraw their resignations in view of the union government’s decision, two others-K Venkat Reddy and D Sridhar Babu-struck to their position and refused to take back their resignations.
“Now that the Centre has announced that the consultation process would begin on January 5, we have decided to withdraw our resignations. We have full faith in our leadership,” the Minister for Information J Geetha Reddy told reporters here, after meeting the state Congress Chief D Srinivas and Chief Minister K Rosaiah.
However, a defiant Minister, Venkat Reddy, raised a banner of revolt against the Chief Minister, saying he was functioning in a biased manner. “I am hurt by Chief Minister’s criticism of the Telangana agitation. He should behave like the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and not like the chief minister of Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions,” Reddy, who holds IT and Communications portfolio, said.
His outbursts evoked strong reaction from his cabinet colleagues from Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions who demanded his apology. Strongly pitching for integrated state, they demanded that their views should be heard before the Centre takes a decision on Telangana state.
“The Pradesh Congress Committee should hold a meeting of the extended executive committee to collect the opinions of the party leaders from all regions and represent the same at the January 5 meeting,” Anantapur MP Ananta Venkatram Reddy said.
The Congress MLA and whip P Sailajanath said it was not proper on the part of the Centre to hold a meeting to decide the Telangana issue at a time when the opinion was divided among the major political parties.
The Vijayawada Congress MP L Rajagopal went a step further and lashed out at the Centre for trying to usurp the powers of the state in sensitive matters like creation of new states. “If Telangana is granted, there will be similar demands from across the country and forces of sub-regionalism will raise their ugly heads posing a threat to the country’s integrity,” Rajagopal said.
Meanwhile, the TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu held separate meetings with the Telangana and coastal Andhra leaders to chalk out the party’s strategy. The party is yet to come out with a concrete stand on the issue, but its plan appears to be paying the Congress in its own coin, without itself getting exposed.
“Let the Congress spell out its stand first and bring a consensus among its own leaders representing Telangana and coastal Andhra regions. Only then, can we will spell out our stand,” TDP MLA from Telangana E Dayakar Rao said.
