An empowered and financially strong Telangana Regional Council, a key recommendation of the Srikrishna Committee, has found favour with the UPA government, even as it would want to keep Andhra Pradesh united. The idea is to pacify those who pine for a separate Telangana by ensuring a statutory mechanism for socio-economic development of the region.
More to the point, the Congress party is also veering towards appointing a deputy chief minister in the state from the Telangana region just after the Republic Day. Former state Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief D Srinivas is a frontrunner for the post.
During meetings held last week at the highest levels in the government and within the Congress, Telangana figured as a major point of conflict. Late chief minister of Andhra Pradesh YS Rajashekhara Reddy had been successful in keeping the party on his and a united Andhra’s side, but the now the issue seems to be weighing heavily with the party.
?We know that there is a vertical split in the party between the pro and anti Telengana groups but there are severe repercussions if the state is split,? said a top government official. ?The sticking point in the demand for a seperate state is the fate of Hyderabad which is actually the magnet for economic development in the state, and where a lot of Andhras (non Telengana people) have parked their investments,? said the source. The Telengana Rashtra Samiti and even Congress MPs who are pro-Telengana have been demanding that a seperate state without Hyderabad as Capital would be meaningless. In fact, in the six options put forward by the Srikrishna Committee, three deal with Hyderbad as a centrally administered territory.
?The idea of a regional council would preserve the integrity of Hyderabad and would address the legitimate aspirations of the people of the region by offering them first preferrence in jobs and resources in the area,? said the official. The case for Telengana had been considered by the committee after exhaustive research and going through hours of representations by various stakeholders. ?Even on the day that the committee submitted its report, home minister P Chidambaram publicly announced that this would be the best option available and appealed to all stakeholders to consider the matter carefully,? said the source. The TRS and pro-Telengana Congress MPs are however not in a mood to listen, with TRS leader K Chandrashekhara Rao renewing his agitation from Monday.