Creation of Telangana unlikely before Lok Sabha polls

[Srinivas]

Creation of Telangana unlikely before Lok Sabha polls​

NEW DELHI: In what will mark a terrible blow to Congress's calculations for 2014, the window for creation of Telangana seems to have shrunk acutely, with the growing possibility that the division of Andhra Pradesh may not happen before the Lok Sabha elections.

Even as President Pranab Mukherjee sent the Telangana bill to the Andhra assembly and gave the legislature six week time to get back with its views, Congress has severely overshot the timeline for creation of the new state with the bifurcation likely to be brought to Parliament in the budget session expected to be convened next month for the government to seek vote-on-account.

There are doubts if the bill would even be taken up and passed in the last session before Lok Sabha polls since the outfits opposed to Telangana would be aware that obstructing Parliament for one session would stall it for good. Given the high political stakes for Congress, BJP — though firmly arrayed on the side of Telangana — is unlikely to be proactive in rushing relief to the government.

"It looks like we will go to Lok Sabha polls with united Andhra," a senior Congress leader conceded, lamenting that the process for creation of the separate state was not initiated in time.

Congress has been hoping to sweep Telangana's 19 Lok Sabha seats on the emotive issue of statehood and cut its losses in Andhra Pradesh which powered the party to government in 2004 and 2009, but where it will suffer severe damage. With the Telangana move coming unstuck, the party runs the risk of being punished both in Telangana and Seemandhra regions.

While it will be at the receiving end of a possible outrage over "betrayal" of the Telangana cause, the Seemandhra region, where YSR Congress appears to be riding high, has already been seething with resentment against the plan to split the state and "snatch" Hyderabad from them.

Party managers conceded the possibility of being walloped in both parts of the state, and said that risk will multiply in case BJP, TDP and Telangana Rashtra Samiti forge an alliance.

There is little clarity on why Congress has allowed the uncertainty on creation of Telangana after raising hopes in the region. A senior leader pointed out that the Union home ministry had taken over two months to constitute the group of ministers to thrash out the legislation to divide Andhra. The political decision to create Telangana was taken by Congress Working Committee on July 30 and the GoM was formed only in the first week of October. The lag seems intriguing considering Telangana's cruciality for Congress,

People hesitate to blame the home ministry alone saying it could not have been oblivious to Congress's interests, and there are whispers about a possible re-think in the party.

In fact, the Congress's election strategy for south India appears in a shambles.

Its tally in Kerala, where it swept the polls with allies in 2009, is expected to diminish, while the party's hope of retaining some political relevance in Tamil Nadu rests on an alliance with DMK that looks far from certain. DMK, which walked out of UPA over the issue of Sri Lankan atrocities on Tamils, is unhappy with Congress over the arrest of M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi in the 2G case.

Creation of Telangana unlikely before Lok Sabha polls - The Times of India

 

[JanjaWeed]

Congress has lost it. They can kiss goodbye to their poll prospects in both Seemandra & Telengana region! Instead of sticking with the status-quo, they tried to mess with the unity of Andhra for vote bank politics. This will cost them dearly...