UPA meeting to discuss Telangana on Wednesday

 The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coordination committee is expected to take a final call on Telangana on Wednesday.

Government sources had indicated that the Congress would not like to take the entire responsibility for carving out a separate Telangana state and would prefer to have wider consultations on the issue.

“It is not the responsibility of the Congress alone. It is a matter of collective responsibility,” a senior minster had said when asked about a decision on the Telangana issue.

The Telangana issue now appears to have entered the final stage with the Congress Working Committee and the Union Cabinet expected to deliberate over the issue this week clearing the way for the introduction of the bill in Parliament when it convenes for the monsoon session on August 5.

The pro-Telangana people appear upbeat claiming to have received indications that their dreams of a separate state would soon turn into reality.

However, they were alarmed by the late surge by anti-Telangana proponents who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday with a plea to keep Andhra Pradesh united.

Six anti-Telangana MPs, Union Ministers M M Pallam Raju, K S Rao, K Chiranjeevi and D Purandeshwari (all from coastal Andhra) and K Bapiraju and Anantarami Reddy told the prime minister that there would be repercussions not only for the state but also for the entire country if Andhra Pradesh was divided.

Rao said any decision to split the state would create problems. It was neither in the interest of the people nor the various regions of Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh said his party favoured the formation of a separate Telangana and the government should grant it immediately.

The five-decade struggle for a state gathered fresh impetus with an aggressive campaign by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, headed by K Chandrasekhara Rao. In 2009, he fasted for 10 days, triggering huge rallies of support.

In response, in December 2009 the government made a surprise announcement on initiating the process to carve out a separate Telangana.

But within a fortnight the government had to backtrack. Months of violent protests followed from the other two regions, forcing the government to put off its decision.