Telangana Caught in a pincer

First, the BJP sent an advisory to Congress that the party didn’t want a separate Telangana state; now it does, but the Congress is waffling—and Telangana is fast losing patience with the UPA

By Shahid Faridi

The issue of the creation of the Telangana state has turned into a game of political shuttlecock: two major parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are tossing it around, knowing full well that without their support it cannot come into existence.

During the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) rule, Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote to then home minister and deputy prime minister L K Advani asking him to set up a States Reorganisation Commission to look into the increasingly voluble demands for the creation of new states, expecially that of Telangana.

Advani retorted that it was not right on the part of Sonia Gandhi to seek the setting up of such a commission, since doing so “is bound to set off vociferous demands/agitations for the creation of …Bodoland, Gorkhaland, Kamtapur, Bundelkhand, Harit Pradesh, Paschim Pradesh, Poorvanchal, Kosal, etc, besides, Vidarbha”.

In his letter dated January 5, 2002, Advani said that by setting up a States Reorganisation Commission, “We will be sparking off pockets of unrest in a large number of places. It will not be possible, on the other hand, to accede to many of the demands on security or practical considerations.”

Advani then went on to advise Sonia Gandhi: “It would, therefore, perhaps be best if we avoid reopening the issue of creation of additional states.” He said that the proposed edifices of Uttaranchal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand stood on a different footing: in their cases, the parent states agreed that carving out separate states from their territories might actually be viable.
“There was a broad consensus across the board for the creation of these states,” Advani wrote. “In the future as well, we may consider demands for the reorganisation of any state only if such a broad consensus emerges backed by a resolution of the legislature of the parent state.”
Obviously, matters took an about turn after the change of government at the Centre: both Advani and Sonia Gandhi did an about take and now hold diametrically opposite views to the ones they held before.

Advani, now in the opposition, is publicly plugging for the creation of Telangana. And this when there is still no resolution by the Legislative Assembly of the parent state of Andhra Pradesh endorsing the demand to dismember it. The Congress, which followed up its demand for the creation of a distinct Telangana state by including it in its election manifesto, is now delaying the introduction of a bill in Parliament to fulfil its promise not only to its ally, the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), but also to the resigned people of that region.

With the BJP raising the heat and the TRS becoming understandably restive, the Congress’ spin doctors are trying to buy more time by trying to spark a debate on the BJP’s commitment
to Telangana. So, just when it appeared that the TRS might quit the UPA, the Congress’ managers released to the media the letter that Advani had penned.

The Congress is also highlighting the fact that the BJP has so far not sent its formal letter of support to the committee set up under Union defence minister Pranab Mukherjee to evolve a consensus on Telangana’s creation.
The BJP has backtalked, saying that setting up of the Mukherjee committee was nothing but a Congress ploy to delay formation of the new state. The party said that the UPA should immediately bring a bill in Parliament for Telangana’s creation. The TRS, which, under the leadership of K Chandrashekhar Rao, has been spearheading the campaign for the creation of the new state, has, in the meanwhile, had many rounds of meetings with the Congress president and Pranab Mukherjee.
But there is massive pressure on the Congress party’s central leadership from its Andhra Pradesh stalwarts: the party’s Andhra Pradesh unit and the state chief minister are strongly opposed to the very idea of bisecting the state.

The Congress leadership is therefore caught in a bind of its own making. Having waited for more than a year, the TRS leaders do not seem ready to give the UPA government much more time. If the government fails to bring a bill in the Parliament session beginning May 10, TRS ministers might pull out of the Union council of ministers to dump a heap of pressure on the government.