With the Union Cabinet expected to give its final nod to the Telangana bill in a couple of days, speculation was rife Monday that two districts of Rayalaseema - Kurnool and Anantapur - will also be merged with the proposed State. But then, confusion has invariably accompanied every Congress move on the issue of State division and, Rayala T proposal is no exception. We take a look at the various political permutations and combinations in this context
The brains behind RAYALA TELANGANA
The idea was originally floated by Ghulam Nabi Azad when he was incharge of State party affairs. It is now being circulated by Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, a member of the GoM - with the help of his colleague Veerappa Moily. The argument in support of this proposal is that it weakens the TRS in Telangana and Jagan in the residuary State. It solves water problems, helps push T bill in the Assembly somewhat smoothly and also nips the possibility of the demand for Greater Rayalaseema State in the bud. The three Telangana leaders, reportedly sounded on this, are Deputy CM D Rajanarasimha, former PCC chief D Srinivas and Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy. Jaipal was receptive to this proposal some months ago but backed off after he was informed it could be a conspiracy to contain Reddy domination in the region.
WHAT ABOUT THE BJP
Having made it clear umpteen number of times that it is okay only with a 10-district Telangana, the BJP may use this proposal as an escape route to hammer down the T bill in Parliament. Sources said party leaders were shown a draft bill that gave two options — Central control over law and order in Hyderabad for at least a few years and alternatively, a Rayala Telangana State. BJP leaders shot down both the options. That was when the Congress proposed it would need a little more time to finalise the bill, implying that introduction of the bill in the winter session of Parliament (before Dec 20) would not be possible. To this, the BJP leaders are said to have agreed to cooperate even if a special session is called in Jan. “Having taken a policy stand, it will be difficult not to support the bill. But, any deviation from the CWC resolution will give us a handle to stop the bill and thereby, prevent Congress from deriving political mileage,” a senior BJP leader said.
kcr’s back up plan worries T congmen
Though Congress has been circulating the theory that TRS did not totally oppose Rayala T during informal consultations prior to the CWC resolution, there is no way KCR can support it now. Therefore, any such move by the Congress will only make the TRS more belligerent and force it to consider aligning with the BJP on the promise of delivering a ‘clean Telangana’ sooner than later. Sensing trouble, Congress leaders of Telangana raised their voice Monday against merger of Kurnool and Anantapur with Telangana. After calling on senior ministers in Delhi, D Srinivas indicated though there could be discussion on Rayala Telangana, he was confident it would just be a Telangana state in the end.
SOCIAL RE-ENGINEERING
Amidst all the hungama over division of Andhra Pradesh, a silent move being made by the Congress is going unnoticed. According to informed sources, the Congress is now all set to embark on a social re-engineering process across the country — reduce its dependence on castes that have had a grip over party politics for decades and embrace other communities. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has called for a meeting with all Dalit MPs of the party in Delhi on December 5. He is going to follow it up by having a meeting with all the Dalit legislators in various states — around 160 — on December 16. The idea is to discuss how to implement social re-engineering process in various states and what are the tools required for the purpose.
A COMPLETE U-turn
Those opposed to division say Rayala Telangana is an indication that the UPA will finally fail in its plans. “When they made the announcement in July, they did not expect they would encounter so much opposition in Seemandhra. Now, if this proposal is pushed, it would lead to trouble in Telangana. In the end, the Congress would be so vexed with the entire exercise that it would beat a retreat telling people of Telangana that it did its best. In such a case, it is likely to lose out in both the regions.
WHAT IS THE TIME FRAME
It is certain the T bill will not be tabled in Parliament before Dec 20 but Congress intends to at least complete the process in the State Assembly by then. President Pranab Mukherjee is said to be of the view that at least a month should be given to the Assembly, if not 40 days as was done in earlier cases. But Congress managers are talking to local leaders to ensure that the Assembly process is completed ahead of the time-frame given by the President. They are now considering special session of Parliament anytime after Pongal. This way, the UPA will have more than 40 days from now to complete the entire exercise, even if they have to meet the one-month time-frame proposed to be given to the Assembly.
If the Congress succeeds in dividing Andhra Pradesh, it is expected to implement the same. Sources said it has formalised a BC-Dalit-Muslim combination in Telangana and a Kapu-Dalit(Mala) combine in Seemandhra by adding one more caste (other than Reddy and Kamma).