A decision in favour of Telangana state would only pave the way for YSR Congress to sweep the 2014 polls in the Seemandhra region, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is learnt to have told his party high command during his visit to Delhi a couple of days ago.
Pointing out the fact that YSRC had been relegated to the third position in the recently-held cooperative polls in the state, Kiran Reddy is understood to have told his party leadership that these results prove that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s popularity is on the wane.
As the YSRC is the only party which did not fully back the formation of Telangana state during the recent all-party meeting in Delhi, a positive decision over T-state would be used by Jagan to win the 2014 elections by raking up the Andhra sentiment, Kiran Reddy reportedly reasoned.
The chief minister, during his two-day stay in Delhi, submitted a detailed report to his party high command explaining the pros and cons of bifurcating the state.
Sources divulged that in his report, Kiran Reddy also underscored Maoist resurgence in Telangana, knotty issues like status of Hyderabad and sharing of river waters in support of his opinion that the state should not be bifurcated.
Even after the announcement of AICC state in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad that there was no deadline for deciding the Telangana issue, no large-scale protests took place in the region, the chief minister pointed out, adding that there was also no opposition from Telangana ministers and Congress MLAs. Congress victory in eight out of 10 Telangana districts in the cooperative polls clearly indicates that the Congress can resolve the issue by setting up a regional development council instead of granting statehood, he said.
According to sources, Kiran Reddy told the party high command that Telangana sentiment is confined mainly to only four districts--Warangal, Nizamabad, Karimangar and Medak. The T-factor does not significantly influence the electoral prospects of the Congress in the remaining districts, he said.
He further said that even if the Congress delivers Telangana state, there is no guarantee that the ruling party will get electoral benefits from the decision as it would have to compete with several other pro-Telangana parties in the region.
Though the chief minister is reportedly argued against bifurcation, he told his party leadership that he would abide by whatever the decision high command takes.
“I have clearly explained to you the ramifications of any decision on the Telangana issue,” Kiran Reddy reportedly told to his high command.