The suspense filled drama over the Telangana State seems to be heading towards a denouement as the last session of Indian Parliament is all set to open from Wednesday amid feverish pitch activity, behind the scene lobbying and confabulations for and against Telangana.
After the last meeting of Group of Ministers (GoM) in New Delhi on Tuesday, there were indications that the Andhra Pradesh State Reorganisation Bill will be introduced in Parliament on Thursday. Reliable sources said that the Centre wanted to give it the top priority and complete the process at the earliest.
As several twists and turns have added to the last minute suspense about the fate of the Bill due to the changing position of the top leadership of the BJP on party’s support to Telangana Bill, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh exuded confidence that the Bill will be passed in Parliament. In a meeting with a delegation of Telangana Rashtra Samiti Manmohan Singh stressed the need for a peaceful bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
“Nothing should be said or done that can inflame passions. I appeal to all that the bifurcation process should be peaceful”. The delegation was led by TRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao who also expressed confidence that nothing will stop the formation of Telangana State.
Group of Ministers on Telangana met on Tuesday to have a last round of discussion the State Reorganisation Bill and suggested some amendments to the draft Bill. It will be placed before the Union Cabinet for finalisation.
As the GoM chaired by the Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde met in the North Block, Seemandhra leaders and their supporters held a noisy protest outside. The police intervened and removed. The protesters included TDP MlAs and MlCs from Seemandhra. One of them even fell on the feet of Union Minister Jairam Ramesh and tried to prevent him from going for the meeting. But the police made the way for the Minister.
Even as the Union Government was gearing up to finalise the Telangana Bill to be tabled in Parliament at the earliest and complete the process of formation of Telangana State by February 21, a number of powerful opponents of Telangana State were busy in mobilising support in New Delhi.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, along with the State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana and several other Congress leaders from Seemandhra regions will be going on a fast at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Wednesday to highlight their opposition to the division of Andhra Pradesh. Reddy, who met the Seemandhra leaders on Tuesday, was scheduled to meet the President Pranab Mukherjee to request him to stop the process of bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Similarly, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababdu Naidu was busy in his meetings with the national political leaders from across the political spectrum. He too had a meeting with the President to oppose bifurcation process.
Another important leader from Andhra Pradesh, YSR Congress president Jaganmohan Reddy will also be arriving in New Delhi to attend the Parliament session and lobby against the bifurcation of the State.
“Our protest is to demand that the process is carried out in accordance with the Constitution. Nobody should be allowed to take the Constitution in his hand,” Botsa Satyanarayana told the media in Hyderabad.
He created a flutter by claiming that neither he nor the Chief Minister had received any invitation from the Congress high command to come to War Room of AICC in New Delhi for discussions on the present situation.
“The MPs of the two regions put across their views in the War Room discussions,” he said.
Some of the proposals on Tuesday discussed by the Group of Ministers to amend the draft Bill pertains to building a new capital for residuary State of Andhra Pradesh, package for the development of backward areas of Seemandhra and shifting Bhadrachalam division of Telangana to Andhra. The latter proposal was likely to face a strong resistance from Telangana.
As all eyes were on the BJP, who holds the key for passing the Bill in Parliament, Telangana supporters were trying to put pressure on the party not to change its oft repeated position of supporting Telangana.
In a novel way to ensure that the BJP stays the course and supports the Bill in Parliament, the Telangana Joint Action committee held the steering committee meeting in the State BJP office.
The TJAC leadership was jittery over the latest statements of the BJP leaders that its support to the Bill will be conditional. The party has demanded that the Congress should first put its own house in order and ensure orderly conduct of the Parliament.
Senior BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and M Venkaiah Naidu have raised questions like how the Congress can ask other parties to support when its own actions had created a big mess in Andhra Pradesh and the State Chief Minister was opposing the bill and he got it defeated in the State Assembly.
Though Venkaiah Naidu insisted in Hyderabad that there was no change in party’s stand, Telangana supporter were afraid that the party might backtrack due to the electoral considerations at the last minute. Many of the BJP leaders do not want Congress to take the credit for the formation of Telangana State and hope that by stalling Telangana till the elections, their party can benefit in Seemandhra region.
Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who met BJP president Rajnath Singh on Monday, called on senior party leader lK Advani on Tuesday. “I explained to him the conspiracies Congress was hatching to divide the State for electoral and political gains”, Naidu told the media.
“Congress conspiracies were destroying Andhra Pradesh,” he said. Pointing out that on one hand Congress Working Committee resolution was being opposed by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy by going on a fast and on the other Telangana Congress leaders were agitating, Naidu asked, “where are we goingIJ”
Naidu also met the leaders of other political parties including Rashtriya Janata Dal leader lalu Prasad and CPI leader AB Bardhan and urged them to oppose the Telangana Bill in Parliament. He will be leaving for Mumbai on Wednesday to meet the Shiv Sena leader Uddhav Thakre to seek his party’s support to his anti-Telangana stand.
Meanwhile the Government employees of Seemandhra region were planning to go on an indefinite fast from Thursday to protest against the proposed bifurcation. AP Non-Gazetted Officers Association president Ashok Babu threatened that the MPs who do not give a no confidence notice against the UPA Government will face a dire consequences and they will be politically uprooted.
He said he will meet Chief Secretary PK Mohanthy to give him a notice of indefinite strike by the Government employees.