Wily Congress' Telangana strategy: Spoon-feed Seemandhra

To avoid the risk of repeat of “en masse” resignations by Seemandhra MLAs, which happened soon after the Centre’s announcement on Telangana on December 9, 2009, the Congress high command is said to be planning a staggered announcement to prepare them psychologically.

As part of this strategy, the Congress Working Committee, which will meet soon, is likely to endorse the December 9 statement made by the then Union home minister P Chidambaram that the Centre will initiate the process for formation of a T-state. After that, the State government will be asked to debate the issue in both Houses of the Assembly instead of moving a resolution. “Assembly as well as the Council will thoroughly debate the issue of state bifurcation, during which, views of various parties will be gathered and later, conveyed to the Centre to take appropriate steps,” a senior minister told Express. Since a T-resolution is bound to be defeated in the House dominated by Seemandhra lawmakers, the AICC leadership does not want to take that risk. A defeated resolution means the State government will fall, sources said.

According to a senior leader, during the debate, ruling party leaders from Kurnool and Anantapur will express their willingness to merge the two districts with Telangana, paving the way for the Centre to form a Rayala-Telangana state.

It is learnt that the Congress high command has asked Speaker N Manohar to get ready for holding a debate on the T-issue.  Against this backdrop, ministers from Seemandhra met Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday night. Sources said Reddy hinted at a positive T-decision from the Centre after the CWC meeting.

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