Telangana issue divides Congress into two camps News Analysis

Congress seniors opine that the party would face a rout unless it takes a forthright stand on Telangana, writes S. Nagesh Kumar


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HYDERABAD: What started off as a competition with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to be seen as a champion of the separate Telangana cause prior to the 2004 elections, has now turned into a confrontation within the ruling Congress party.

The TRS is sitting pretty politically by announcing its resolve to pressure the Centre by resigning en masse from the legislatures on March 6 and even collecting letters from its members.

Party in turmoil


On the other hand, the Congress finds itself in a turmoil with pro-separation leaders, unable to make any headway with the Centre, accusing Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy of being the main hurdle in achieving Telangana.

By all available indications as also his interactions with the media, Dr. Reddy is unambiguous in his views on Telangana.

He is clear that statehood cannot be achieved in the absence of consensus among political parties at the Centre. Such an agreement, as is too well known, is impossible unless a miracle happens and the CPI (M), Samajwadi Party and the Telugu Desam retract from their opposition to separate Telangana. Against this backdrop, Dr. Reddy stated that AICC president Sonia alone could not take a decision as the present regime at the Centre was a coalition of several parties.

By the same token, the AICC has made evident its disinclination to take any new initiative on Telangana before the 2009 elections, more so in the wake of pro-separation leaders vetoing its move to constitute a second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC).

High command’s snub


It even administered a snub to the Congress seniors by summarily rejecting G. Venkataswamy’s, demand to convene a Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting to discuss Telangana besides asking them to defer their planned meeting with Ms. Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi on January 29.

The AICC has to reckon with the impact that any decision on Telangana will have on the Congress party’s electoral prospects in 2009. In a situation, a hypothetical one at that, where it announces its clear intention to carve out a separate Telangana in 2008, it will have to factor in highly contentious issues relating to sharing of resources between the various regions besides demands for separation from other sub-regions.

Seniors fear rout


Once its fundamental plank is undermined, the TRS will definitely up the ante by demanding a greater share for Telangana thus attracting counter claims from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions. This is a situation the Congress can ill-afford to face in an election year. Congress seniors appear unfazed by these considerations and insist that the party will face rout at the TRS’ hands unless it takes a forthright stand on separate Telangana.

Much of their criticism at the end of their daily conclaves is directed at the Chief Minister or his supporters conveying an impression of an ongoing struggle between dissidents and loyalists. It is reminiscent of the rebel activity in 1980 when rebels gathered at residence of the redoubtable Backward Classes leader late G. Rajaram and made life difficult for the then Chief Minister M. Chenna Reddy.

Some of these seniors have a chequered past of being pro-Telangana and pro-integration at different points in history but their political journey has always been with the Congress. They justifiably nurse a grouse that the Congress leadership has failed to recognize and amply reward their long services to the party.

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