Telangana MPs sing BJP tune, put Naidu in a fix

Though the Telangana bogey raised by these MPs, according to party sources, is to force Naidu to let the party join the National Democratic Alliance Government, it could have an unintended effect on the TDP and its chief. What should worry Naidu is the fact that his own partymen are speaking the language of its ally, the BJP, which is in the forefront of the agitation for a separate Telangana state. The TDP has always stood for a unified Andhra Pradesh and has not taken kindly to demands for division of the state.

Interestingly, the TDP did not participate in the debates in the Lok Sabha on the Bills for the creation of the new states of Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal.

The movement for a separate Telangana state is showing signs of gaining momentum now that the Bills for creation of the three new states have been passed by the Lok Sabha. Immediately after the passage of these Bills, a BJP MP from Andhra Pradesh, Jithender Reddy, said a separate Telangana state comprising 11 districts of Andhra Pradesh was imperative.

There is a significant section in the Congress too which supports this demand. In fact, the party has a separate Telangana Regional Congress Committee.

TDP MPs from the region will one day have to identify themselves with the movement for a separate state as it gains ground. In their memorandum to the Prime Minister, there was no demand for a separate state but it did refer to the Telangana movement. “A separate Telangana movement started during the Congress regime and thousands of lives were lost,” they said.

The memorandum also demanded a special package of funds from the Centre for the Naxalite-infested, tribal-dominated Telangana on the lines of grants for the extremism-affected states of Jammu and Kashmir, and Punjab.

TDP Parliamentary Party leader K Yerran Naidu tried to dissuade the Telangana MPs from holding their own meeting, but they were in no mood to listen.