Hyderabad: It’s Telangana leaders: 1, Seemandhra leaders: 0 in the game of state bifurcation. Everything so far has gone the Telangana Congress leaders and TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s way and Seemandhra leaders have not scored a single point despite agitating for the last four months.
The main difference between the Telangana and Seemandhra agitations was unity. Irrespective of their party, the Telangana leaders’ goal was one and their voice was one.
Whereas in the Seemandhra agitation, while the goal was one, there were many voices without unity. This fact made the job simple for the Congress high command and the Group of Ministers.
Among the Seemandhra Congress leaders, some demanded Rayala Telangana, some wanted Andhra Pradesh to be divided into three states while others wanted the state to remain united.
Even before the bifurcation, Seemandhra leaders started fighting over the capital. Some demanded that Visakhapatnam should be made the capital of the residuary state of AP while others pitched in for Kurnool, Vijayawada and other places.
They also said that if the state was divided, Hyderabad city should be made a UT and Bhadrachalam division in Khammam district in Telangana should be merged with Seemandhra; both demands were rejected by the GOM.
The Telangana Congress MLCs had demanded for the continuation of the Legislative Council in the Telangana and in the Cabinet note, the Centre said that after bifurcation the Legislative Council would continue in the residuary state of AP, while the Telangana state government should take a decision regarding the Council only if it was possible to establish the Council.
Following this, the Telangana Congress MLCs argued with the GOM that if the state Assemblies could continue after bifurcation why couldn’t the Legislative Councils, being a permanent body, not get similar treatment?
The GOM was convinced with the argument and took a decision on the continuation of the Council in Telangana and even distributed the number of seats between the two states.
On Thursday, the Union cabinet decided that out of 90 seats, Telangana would get 40 and the residuary state would get 50. The Union also put in place fewer instructions regarding Hyderabad as the joint capital for both states.
Next: Seemandhra leaders to form JAC to stop split
Seemandhra leaders to form JAC to stop split
Hyderabad: A meeting of Seemandhra ministers, Congress MLAs and MLCs held in the presence of Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has decided informally to form JAC (Joint Action Committee) with Congress, TD and YSRC Seemandhra MLAs to oppose the Telangana Bill in Assembly.
The Seemandhra ministers and MLAs expressed confidence that the state would not be divided. Chief Minister suggested that they would have to rope in TD and YSRC MLAs too while getting support of their own party MLAs.
Accepting the suggestion of some MLAs to form a JAC, the Chief Minister asked some ministers to coordinate with TD and YSRC Seemandhra MLAs. The Chief Minister said that all 175 Seemandhra MLAs should oppose the Telangana Bill in the Assembly.
The Chief Minster said, “I am very confident that the state will not be divided.”
Reddy said he has consulted legal experts and some Chief Justices and they have told him that the Telangana Bill will not stand before legal scrutiny.
The Chief Minister said only after receiving the Telangana Bill from President of India clarity can come on how many days he has given the Assembly to express its views.
MLAs criticised the Centre and GoM for showing no concern about their demands. They had not even considered the Bhadrachalam division to merge with Seemandhra, nor make Hyderabad city as Union Territory amongst many other issues.
It was suggested that the Chief Minister request the President for more time for the Assembly to express its opinion on Telangana Bill.
