After remaining indecisive for long, the Congress on Saturday said that Telangana is not on the national agenda of UPA Government. The announcement is likely to trigger a fresh round of unrest in the party cadre and leaders from the region.
“Telangana is not part of the UPA’s national agenda and election manifesto,” Congress spokesman PC Chacko said. He said that the issue can be tackled by the State unit of the party and was not among the list of the things to be done by the party at the national level.
Chacko was responding to a question about what action the Government planned to take on the crucial Telangana issue which has been hanging fire. Chacko was briefing the media about the UPA Government’s achievements during the past nine years.
Apprehensive that such an announcement would adversely impact the party’s prospect in the Assembly elections, Congress leaders from Telangana are now planning to raise the issue with party vice president Rahul Gandhi.
“It is utterly regrettable. There was a promise of Telangana made in the Presidential address. It was also in the Common Minimum Programme of the UPA Government.”
“Then Home Minister, P Chidambaram, had also made an announcement on December 9, 2009 about initiating the process to create Telangana,” G Vivekanand, Congress MP from Peddapalli, pointed out.
Vivekanand, who along with other MPs from Telangana had earlier sat on dharna outside Parliament gate seeking attention of Congress leadership’s towards their long pending demand for separate State, told The Pioneer that such an approach would lead to the party loosing its ground completely in the region.
Similar views were expressed by a senior party leader who was earlier associated with party affairs. He said that any delay in taking decision on Telangana would cost the Congress dearly. “We should take a decision either way to clarify the present confusion,” the leader said.
However, when asked about the apprehension among a section of Congress that if the demand for Telanagana was conceded the Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) will claim credit for it and the Congress will lose ground in both Andhra and Rayalseema regions, the leader said that this argument was promoted by those who are against the formation of a separate State. According to the assessment by the leader, if Telangana was announced, the party could at least retrieve some seats, which at present looks difficult.
The Congress is besieged with issues like regionalism and infighting. In addition corruption charges against leaders including Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy could affect its electoral fortune both in Assembly and lok Sabha polls.