New Delhi/Hyderabad:
Andhra Pradesh expects a decision on Telangana soon. In far away Delhi, a deadline for consultations on the issue ends today.
The Centre is struggling to finalise its strategy to solve the Telangana statehood crisis, still looking for an elusive consensus. At his Finance Ministry office, Pranab Mukherjee today met fellow senior Congress ministers P Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad, along with Andhra Pradesh actor and politician Chiranjeevi, who joined the Congress recently.
Chiranjeevi said the core committee had invited him to know his opinion. "I explained my position but made it clear to the leaders that whatever is the decision, take a decision. We can handle the situation. People are suffering, so I requested them that there should be no further delay." Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Reddy had met Mr Mukherjee yesterday.
The Congress' core group, headed by party president Sonia Gandhi, will meet this evening on Telangana once Mr Mukherjee, who has now assumed the role of the UPA's chief Telangana negotiator, has finished his round of meetings. The core group includes Mr Mukherjee, Mr Chidambaram, Defence Minister AK Antony and Mrs Gandhi's political advisor Ahmed Patel. Mr Azad is a special invitee - he has charge of Andhra Pradesh and submitted an internal report on the Telangana issue last week.
On Saturday, Mr Mukherjee had said, "The consultation process within the Congress is still going on. I think we will be able to complete the process by Monday." He, however, refused to set any deadline for the resolution of the Telangana statehood crisis.
For long, activists and political leaders from the Telangana region, cutting across party lines, have been demanding that a separate Telangana state be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. People from other regions of the state oppose the move as vehemently.
There is pressure on the Congress, which rules both in Andhra Pradesh and the Centre, for a time-bound announcement of its position and sources say there are still differences on the issue within the party.
The crisis has crippled normal life in the region; protests against party leaders have been taking place now for almost a month. Even the house of Congress' pro-Telangana Cabinet minister S Jaipal Reddy was attacked, reportedly by Telangana activists, 24 hours after he met Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the issue.
Leaders in the state are hoping that the Centre will find a win-win formula: Acceptable to pro-Telangana leaders as well as leaders from the coastal Andhra and Rayalseema regions of Andhra.
Some of the options that are being talked about are:
- Telangana with Hyderabad as capital, an option opposed by leaders from other parts of Andhra as well as a powerful section of people from Hyderabad who do not back the pro-Telangana sentiment
- Hyderabad as Union Territory with other regions developing their own state capitals, an option that has few takers
- Partition of Andhra Pradesh with Hyderabad being the common capital, but there are serious concerns about whether this is going to be a short term measure or a long term one and also who has rights over Hyderabad's revenue
- Another option being talked about is the creation of RayalaTelangana, by including parts of Rayalaseema districts with Telangana. The idea is to have a new state with equal numbers of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats
The only option that the Centre has ruled out for now is that of imposing President's Rule in the state, but even as it continues to stay mum on the options it is exploring, time is running out, with pro-Telangana activists threatening to intensify their agitation.