As the 58-year-old saga of united Andhra Pradesh ends with Telangana and consequently, the residuary state of AP coming into existence from today, it is time to look ahead — clearly, both K Chandrasekhara Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu face an uphill task.
When the night-long celebrations culminate in KCR assuming office as the first CM of the newly-created State Monday, he will be taking on a huge responsibility of which he is surely conscious — meeting the hopes and aspirations of millions who believed a separate State is the only panacea for all the problems/ills plaguing them.
The wish list is quite long: water for irrigation, jobs for the educated, revamp of educational institutions to churn out employable candidates and affordable medicare, to name a few. Victimhood is date-expired and there will be none to blame.
Naidu, who is set to take over as the CM of residuary AP on June 8, has an equally gigantic challenge: beginning with building a new capital to establishing institutes of excellence in education and health sectors, promoting industrialization and thereby, creating employment opportunities hitherto largely limited to Hyderabad. In one sense, the factors that brought KCR and Naidu to power in Telangana and AP respectively are more or less similar. If people of Telangana felt their hopes for a better future could be met by mana leader and mana party (KCR/TRS) and not others, a combination of fear and hope that people of Andhra-Rayalaseema entertained about the future of the residuary state prompted them to prefer an experienced/seasoned leader in Naidu. The key issue, however, is though AP now stands divided geographically, inter-dependence between the two states is going to remain for long with a good part of the activity relating to division still unfinished, whether it be allocation of personnel, water, power or assets including public enterprises. That there is hostility between the two parties that came to power and the leaders who represent them, is known, so much so that KCR and Naidu, at least for now, are not even on talking terms.
Hopefully, this rancour, either on account of legacy issues or other reasons, will be a thing of the past, not only between the two leaders but also the people they represent, because as many acknowledge, this is the most critical component in the new journey the two states are embarking on.
The keenness being shown by Naidu to identify and build a new capital could perhaps mark the winding down of hostilities, much of it caused on account of Hyderabad having been declared the joint capital for 10 years. Looking at it differently, such a development enhances the responsibility of the government of Telangana in protecting Brand Hyderabad on which not only the city’s future but also rest of the new state hinges.
There is no other way the two governments could handle the numerous issues between the separated states, except by way of negotiations, and in a manner that the current tensions do not affect the ultimate goal of ensuring peace and prosperity in Telangana and AP. A beginning in this direction could be made by nominating top bureaucrats to sort out problems which are surely not intractable. A joint committee comprising senior officials from both the states could be one way forward.
Just as KCR’s son KTR, expected to play a key role in the Telangana government, said soon after the results, the time for politics and slander is over. The need now is to build an environment of goodwill and a healthy relationship so that people of Telangana cherish the dream for years to come and the people of Andhra reap the benefits of growth promised to the residuary state. It is time for statesmanship.