Governor E S L Narasimhan and PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana both stayed put in Delhi Sunday, and the Telangana issue was said to be the reason that kept them there.
Narasimhan, in the national capital to attend the conference of governors, had a meeting with his West Bengal counterpart, M K Narayanan. Not coincidentally, both are former directors of the Intelligence Bureau and the latter was the national security adviser when P Chidambaram made his Dec. 9, 2009 announcement on Telangana. Interestingly, Narayanan’s state, West Bengal, is facing the Gorkhaland agitation, which is analogous to the separate state movement in Telangana. Though it is not clear what transpired between them, the meeting assumed political significance as one of the options before the Centre on Telangana is to set up a Telangana territorial administration as has been done in Gorkhaland.
Reports from Delhi suggest that the Centre is closely examining a limited devolution option as it apprehends that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh migh have a domino effect across the country. The Gorkhaland Territorial Administration in West Bengal has already warned the Centre that it will renew its stir for full statehood if Telangana is made a separate state.
Narasimhan on Sunday denied reports that he submitted a fresh report to the Centre on the Telangana question during his present visit. Talking to reporters, he said, “I have neither submitted any report nor expressed my views on the Telangana issue. I have come here only to participate in the conference of governors.”
However, he acknowledged that the Centre is engaged with the Telangana issue at the present moment. On the other hand, PCC chief Botcha is understood to have submitted a report of his own on the Telangana issue. He was busy Sunday meeting AICC high commandos, Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Botcha’s report reportedly took the same line as rendered by chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, that bifurcation of the state would only play into Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s hands. However, he added the rider too that a negative decision on Telangana would invite a severe backlash from Congress leaders from the region.