Hyderabad, the bone of contention between Telangana and Seemandhra leaders, has become a puzzle for the Congress high command and a stumbling block in its efforts to take the T-process forward. So much so that the A K Antony committee, which has been set up to bring about a consensus among Congress leaders on both sides of the divide, has asked party leaders from Telangana to convince their Seemandhra counterparts, hell-bent on detaching Hyderabad from the proposed T-state, to give up their demand.
As leaders from both Seemandhra and Telangana are only firming up their stance on Hyderabad with each passing day, the committee is said to be clueless on how to solve the issue. A contingent of Telangana Congress leaders, led by Deputy Chief Minister C Damodara Rajanarasimha and comprising ministers, MLAs and MLCs, met the panel members in Delhi on Monday evening.
During the hour-long meeting, they told the committee that they would not accept any “compromise formula” on Hyderabad, which flies in the face of the promise made in the Congress Working Committee resolution that the city would be made common capital of both states for 10 years and merged with the T-state thereafter. They told the committee that they would not agree to any proposal other than keeping law and order in Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation under the Centre’s control.
Even though the committee suggested proposals like Rayala-Telangana, according to minister J Geeta Reddy, the T-Congress leaders made it clear they want a T-state with 10 districts, including Bhadrachalam division. They also requested the committee to ensure that the Constitutional process to form the T-state is completed at the earliest.
On the other hand, union ministers and Congress MPs from Seemandhra seem to have decided to take on their party high command over the status of Hyderabad. A day ahead of their scheduled meeting with the committee, nine union ministers along with MPs from the region on Monday sent out feelers that they were even ready to resign if the party high command did not pay heed to their demands.
“If it is not possible to keep present AP as it is, then the state should be divided in such a manner that it is acceptable to people of Seemandhra,” Kavuri Sambasiva Rao told reporters.
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