Hyderabad, August 9
A political slugfest has broken out in Andhra Pradesh over the decision to carve out a separate Telangana state with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha publicly airing their differences and exposing the deep divisions within the ruling Congress.

While the streets in the Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra regions continued to reverberate with angry public protests over bifurcation, the political leadership betrayed the differences within when the key leaders openly professed their respective regional loyalties.

Despite the Congress Working Committee’s July 30 decision to grant statehood to Telangana with the contentious Hyderabad as the common capital for a period of 10 years, the state leadership is still deeply divided over the issue, raising fears of political instability engulfing the state.

Breaking his long silence over the Telangana issue, the CM virtually sounded defiant and said the complex issues like sharing river waters and power and status of Hyderabad should be addressed before moving further on the matter. Kiran, who hails from the Rayalaseema region and has been a strong supporter of the united AP cause, projected a grim scenario in case of bifurcation.

The CM’s tough stance assumes significance in the wake of the reported remarks of the Congress president Sonia Gandhi that the decision on Telangana was irrevocable.

“A problem can be solved only with a solution but not by creating a bigger problem,” he said and warned of several “intractable challenges” if the state was divided. Both the UPA government and the AICC panel headed by Defence Minister AK Antony should take into consideration various concerns raised by leaders from Seemandhra region before arriving at any conclusion, Kiran said.

A resolution on Telangana could be moved in the State Assembly only after the Centre spelt out measures to tackle the various problems faced by the two regions. This is seen as a virtual challenge being thrown at the party’s central leadership.

In the event of the state’s division, Telangana would face power shortage while coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions would face water crisis, he predicted.

Apart from sharing of water and power, the future status of Hyderabad would pose a major problem, the CM said. Pointing out that Hyderabad had been the capital for almost 60 years now, he said successive governments had contributed to its growth by encouraging industrialisation. The metropolitan city is also an education hub.

“The people from Seemandhra are dependent on the city for education, health and employment opportunities. And the city is also home to thousands of people from these two regions, and their security is a major concern,” he said.

Reddy’s remarks drew flak from Telangana Congress leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Rajanarasimha and former PCC Chief D Srinivas. “The CM is overstepping his brief. Once the high command has taken a final call after considering all the factors, he should obey it. This is unbecoming of the Chief Minister,” Srinivas said.

Rebuffing Kiran’s concerns, the Deputy CM said, “Hyderabad is an integral part of Telangana. It is a metropolitan city and, as per the Constitution, anybody can live and work here.”