The possibility of another panel — in addition to the AK Antony committee — to look into issues arising out of division of the State had been doing rounds for the last three days. On Saturday, the same was confirmed by no less a person than Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Speaking on the Telangana issue for the first time in recent times, she said the AICC panel headed by AK Antony is hearing the concerns of those affected and added that the government will also be setting up a committee but did not elaborate. She made the remarks when reporters wanted to know if she was aware of the agitation in Seemandhra in the wake of the Congress decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.
Like all other “equivocal announcements” made by Congress top leaders on the T-issue, Sonia, it seems, also chose to be vague, paving the way for leaders on either side of the divide to interpret her remarks in their own way. Telangana leaders felt she had only referred to the Group of Ministers which has to be constituted in any case to take forward the Constitutional process of bifurcation. The Telangana Congress leaders claimed this was another indication from the party chief that the Centre would speed up the T-process soon after the Monsoon Session of Parliament. Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah opined what the UPA chairperson had said was a reference to the Group of Ministers which would be constituted to study issues like sharing of river water, revenue and other assets while bifurcating the State. Hence, he felt the committee was not to delay the T-process.
Drawing the opposite inference, Seemandhra leaders said the proposal to constitute another committee has been brought forward only to drag the T-process till 2014 polls as the party high command has finally recognised the intensity of the ongoing Samaikyandhra agitation.
Some of the Telangana votaries too are raising doubts over the commitment of the Congress and expressing the fear that the T-process might be delayed. In fact, since Thursday, the talk of a new committee by the Centre has been doing rounds in Delhi. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath floated the proposal as TDP and other parties are not ready to meet the Antony committee to air their views. Meanwhile, Union ministers and MPs from Seemandhra had a lengthy meeting at the residence of Chiranjeevi in Delhi on Saturday. According to MP Kanumuri Bapi Raju, Chiranjeevi explained to them what had transipred at his meeting with Sonia on Friday. On the other hand, Union Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo, who is also from Seemandhra, shot off an eight-page letter to the AK Antony committee.
Firing salvos at Ghulam Nabi Azad, who had handled the AICC state affairs prior to Digvijaya Singh, as well as PCC chief Botcha Satyanarayana, he alleged Azad had taken that decision after consulting a few Telangana leaders and Botcha, “who wants to become CM of the state post-bifurcation”. He also held Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy equally responsible for the uncertainty in AP.
Kishore Chandra Deo also requested the panel to trifurcate AP into Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema. But MIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi once again opposed UT status to Hyderabad and advised Seemandhra leaders to instead focus on development of the region post-division of the State.
