The ball is now back in the Centre’s court over the issue of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to form new state of Telangana.
A bitter division among political parties in the state has put the UPA government in a tight spot.Following differences of opinion among the parties on the terms of reference of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana, the Centre is now left with no option but to go ahead with the preparation of the Telangana bill on its own, without much additional inputs from the state.
The Union Home Ministry had written letters to eight recognised parties in the state, seeking their suggestions on the bifurcation modalities and the GoM’s terms of reference. It had set November 5 deadline for the parties to respond. However, three parties - Telugu Desam Party, YSR Congress Party and CPM - have decided not to respond while the ruling Congress is vertically divided on regional lines. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and CPI, which have been steadfastly supporting Telangana statehood cause, have sent their suggestions.
The divide in the Congress is so deep that it was forced to hold two separate meetings with the leaders of Telangana and Seemandhra on Monday to discuss the issues arising out of division of the state. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is opposed to the division, skipped the meeting with Telangana Congress leaders convened at the residence of APCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana. Instead, he convened a meeting of the party’s Seemandhra leaders at his camp office where the PCC president was also present.
While the Telangana Congress leaders are insisting on sending a single report supporting bifurcation, their Seemandhra counterparts are divided over the issue.
One section is of the view that giving a report to the GoM about the demands of Seemandhra region would amount to accepting the bifurcation decision, while another section of leaders want to utilise the opportunity to bargain a fair deal for the region post-bifurcation.
The dilemma of the main opposition TDP, headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, is much more complicated. Though the party had given consent letters to the Centre twice in the past, in 2008 and 2003, pledging support for creation of separate Telangana state, it has changed its stand after the UPA announced the decision to divide the state.
Apparently, keeping in view the sentiments of the people of Seemandhra, the TDP is now accusing the Centre of taking “unilateral” decision