The Centre appears all set to take a final decision about the formation of a separate Telangana State on Tuesday. The Government will place the decision before the UPA Coordination Committee meeting and then it will be endorsed by the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday.
At the UPA Coordination Committee meeting, which will start at 4 pm, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would deliberate with leaders of allies on the contentious issue. However, this is expected to be a mere formality.
The NCP has already supported the demand for Telangana, the Rashtriya lok Dal has also voiced its support for smaller States like Harit Pradesh and even the National Conference has no objection to smaller States.
The proposal would then come before the CWC, which is expected to revive its earlier stand that any decision on the creation of smaller States should only be through a State Re-organisation Council (SRC).
With demands for separate statehood coming from many other States, and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha on the warpath in West Bengal for the creation of Gorkhaland, the CWC may also discuss the possibility of forming a second SRC to pacify the agitating people of these regions.
Andhra Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who is deeply unhappy over the Centre' proposed move, and the State Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana have been called to Delhi so that they are available for last minute consultations.
At the same time, in view of the resentment among people of Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra over possible bifurcation of the State, the Centre has rushed 1,000 additional para-military forces to deal with any kind of violence that may erupt following an announcement of the decision. This is necessary as Congress leaders from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions are under intense pressure from the anti-bifurcation lobbies to resign.The houses of Congress MPs, A Venkatram Reddy in Anantapur, Sai Pratap in Kadapa, l Rajagopal in Vijayawada and camp office of Union Minister K Sambasiva Rao in Eluru were besieged by students demanding their resignations.
Several Congress leaders from the two regions, including State Ministers and MPs, met the Chief Minister to discuss the latest situation and finalise their strategy to counter the formation of a Telangana State.
One section is advocating that they should resign immediately as resigning after the decision is taken will not make any difference, while another section is against it, as they feel that no immediate decision is likely.
This is because several issues including the status of Hyderabad and whether to create Telangana or Rayala-Telangana, are yet to be settled.
However, the idea of Rayala-Telangana is facing vehement opposition from the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), Telangana Joint Action Committee and the BJP. Even the people and parties of Rayalaseema are opposing any move to divide their region to merge Anantapur and Kurnool districts in Telangana.
Also, the status of Hyderabad city is a bone of contention between the supporters and opponents of Telangana, with the former wanting the city to be the capital of their State. But people of other regions want it to be the joint capital. The Centre is likely to favour the latter option at least for the initial five years. The fight over Hyderabad city is due to the fact that 55 per cent of State revenue and 65 per cent of Central revenue from Andhra Pradesh is generated in greater Hyderabad area.
Andhra and coastal people are apprehensive that if Hyderabad city is given to Telangana, their region will be starved for resources in future and the fate of their investments in Hyderabad will be uncertain.