By Liz Mathew, IANS
New Delhi : Faced with the prospect of the Congress losing its vote base in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh if it dithers on its promise to grant it statehood, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is believed to have suggested a review of the party’s official stance of delaying bifurcation of the state.
Manmohan Singh is believed to have asked a Congress delegation from Telangana that visited him last week to consult the state party in-charge Digvijay Singh and apprise him of the “ground realities”.
According to party sources, the delegation led by Nizamabad MP Madhu Goud Yaskhi told the prime minister that the Congress was backtracking on its promise for granting statehood and it could prove “disastrous” for the party.
“We have told the prime minister that there is a fresh simmering over the issue in the region with students, academicians and intellectuals also joining agitations, organised by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS). But once it overflows, things will go out of control,” Yaskhi told IANS here.
The Congress leaders have informed Manmohan Singh that it would be “suicidal” for the party, which came to power promising statehood to the Telangana region in 2004, to go back to people without taking initial steps to fulfil its promise.
“Besides, the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and the CPI (Communist Party of India) have already announced that they would support the region’s demand. It is for sure that the Congress would be wiped out from the Telangana region if it does not take steps to implement what it has promised,” one of the Congress leaders, who visited the prime minister, was quoted as telling him.
Congress leaders in the region strongly believe that a second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC) – a commission to look into demands for creation of smaller states – as suggested by some Congress leaders including Digvijay Singh would not be “practical”.
“The Congress had promised in 2004 that we would go for a consensus on the issue. No party including the CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) supports a second SRC. How is it possible to constitute an SRC only for Telangana?” asked a Congress leader.
Yaskhi said: “A second SRC will not satisfy the people in Telangana. It will not serve any purpose. It will delay a solution indefinitely and hurt the sentiments of the people.”
The Congress, which forged an electoral pact with the TRS in the 2004 general election, had promised a separate state of Telangana in its election manifesto. However, the party has been vacillating on the issue as Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who belongs to the Rayalaseema region, and a large section of the party leadership are reportedly not keen on it.
The TRS has left the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) alliance, alleging that the Congress had been indulging in delaying tactics on the issue. The people of Telangana have accused successive Andhra Pradesh governments of neglecting the development of the region.
The agitation in the region intensified after Digvijay Singh’s recent remark that a second SRC could be constituted to look into the demands for bifurcation.
Congress leaders in Telangana also allege that the state leadership has “misled” both the prime minister and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on the issue.
But they have not given up hope of realising their dream of a separate state.
“The prime minister’s response to our meeting has given us hope. We will continue to take up the matter with the party leadership too,” said Yaskhi.