Even as the Congress Core Committee in New Delhi inched closer to take a call on Telangana on Friday, contours of a deep political crisis have started emerging in Andhra Pradesh.
In a reflection of growing tension at the ground level, security arrangements were being tightened all over the State specially in the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions to prevent breakout of trouble. Forty additional companies of Central forces, deployed for the panchayat elections will stay put even after the polls were over and another 15 companies were also being flown in.
The State Director General of Police, V Dinesh Reddy, who spent considerable time in New Delhi talking to the Union Home Ministry officials and briefing the political leadership about the law and order situation, met the Chief Secretary Mohanty on Friday. In an indication that the Congress leadership was gearing up for a decision, AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh said that the time had come for a final move.
First to draw a battle line and positioning themselves for the post-bifurcation era, 16 members of the Assembly from the Andhra and Rayalaseema regions belonging to Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress have sent their resignations. Party’s honorary president Vijayalakshmi is the only party MlA not to resign as party does not want to make anti-Telangana stand as official line but maintains that it was individual decision of the 16 legislators.
A similar “individual” move has also been made by ruling Congress MlA from Kadapa district Veerasiva Reddy to protest against plans to divide the State. Supporters of Telangana were seeing a deeper conspiracy behind his resignation as Reddy is a follower of Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. Angered by YSRCP’s betrayal over Telangana, the supporters of the separate State held a demonstration outside the party office in Hyderabad. The police dispersed them before the situation got out of control.
As the top trio of the State Congress — the CM, Deputy CM Damodar Rajanarasimha and State Congress president Botsa Satyanrayana — were in Delhi to meet the party bigwigs ahead of the core committee meet, the regional divide in the Congress has also become sharper. The party leaders from the Seema-Andhra regions on one side and Telangana on the other were ranged against each other, threatening grave consequences if the party did not toe their line.
With the resignations of the YSRCP, pressure was also mounting on the legislators and other leaders of the Congress and the TDP from the Seema-Andhra regions to take a similar step to prevent division of the State.
Ministers from the Seema-Andhra regions, who earlier made loud noises were now appearing to be divided on the question of resigning. Some of them like TG Venkatesh have gone back on their word of resigning while others were talking tough.
Ministers from Telangana region were also making counter moves. They have privately threatened that if Andhra Ministers resign to stop Telangana, they will also resign to get Telangana. Andhra Ministers met the Chief Minister in Delhi on Friday and urged him to continue to oppose Telangana in his meetings with Sonia Gandhi and other leaders.
Joining the Congress politicos were the Government employees on both the sides of the divide. After Andhra Pradesh non-gazetted officers association, opposed to Telangana State, threatened to go on an indefinite strike, Telangana NGOs Joint Action Committee has also responded in the kind. TNGOs JAC met in Hyderabad on Friday to chalk out its future course of action in case of delay in decision.
TNGO president Devi Prasad said that the leaders of his organisations will meet the AP NGOs leaders individually to urge them not to obstruct Telangana State. “If the Centre goes back on its word of formation of separate State, indefinite strike will be unavoidable,” he warned.