The fast,and the furious

The atmosphere in the state Assembly is edgy,while the BJP has also managed to stall Parliament over the matter. Under immense pressure,Chief Minister K Rosaiah has said the government cant table a resolution on Telangana just like that.

But how has the situation suddenly come to this pass? The Telangana issue,of creating a state separate from the Andhra and Rayalseema regions of the state,had dropped off the public radar with the TRSs decline.

Since a stunning performance in the 2004 elections which was its best ever since the formation of the party in 2001,after Rao broke off from the TDP on the Telangana question,the TRS has suffered serious setbacks.

In 2009,they managed just two seats in the Lok Sabha and 10 in the Assembly of the total 119 in Telangana. Despite Hyderabad falling in Telangana region,the party did not contest even a single seat in the recent Greater Hyderabad Municipal Council elections.

Raos decision to go on fast is being seen as a now-or-never point in the agitation for him. What may have also decided the timing is the opening up of political space in the state after the demise of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.

Says K C Suri,a respected political commentator with the Department of Political Science,University of Hyderabad: YSR had the ability to sort out a variety of issues8230; He was popular,he had split the TRS,and he used the carrot-and-stick policy of offering inducements to those who came on board and terrorising those who did not. Now,with his presence suddenly gone,demands and democracy in the state are back and people like Rao are using the window of opportunity.

The absence of YSR has also left the Congress fumbling,caught between those who would like Y S Jaganmohan Reddy to take over from where his father left off,and those who are opposed to it. Some say that it doesnt behove well for the state leadership to again invoke the high command for all decisions. A few even give the example of the slight to then chief minister T Anjaiah at the airport by the late Rajiv Gandhi,which was interpreted by the newly founded TDP as a blow to Telugu pride and used by it to win the elections that followed.

Today again,a state Congress that just recently seemed able to set its own terms appears vulnerable,encouraging opponents to make their presence felt.

This,reasons Prof K Srinivasulu at Osmania University; has resulted in the coming together of all anti-Congress forces on this issue. It has gone well beyond the TRS8230; The BJP has just 3 per cent of the vote,but with lawyers and other such vocal groups constituting their base,they are making the most of this political juncture.

As for Rao going on hunger strike,he didnt have to look far for inspiration. Hunger strike as a political weapon worked most dramatically at the time of founding of the state of Andhra. Then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was forced to fast track the formation of a state of Telugu-speaking people on November 1,1953 after public outcry following the hunger strike and death of activist Potti Sreeramalu.

Its no surprise then that Raos deteriorating health has set so many pulses racing from Hyderabad to New Delhi.

Evolution of a movement

Between 1945-51,the struggle for Telangana was different from what it is now. Then it was led by the Communist Party and basically involved peasants fighting the oppressive landlords who were first supported by the Nizam and then the Congress party.

In 1969-71,it changed colour and became an effort to split Telangana from the rest of the state on the grounds that Andhras were exploiting the backward region.

After the formation of Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and Uttarakhand in 2000,a move was made to revive the movement. despite the language of the two regions being the same. In 2001,the Telangana Rashtra Samiti was formed by K Chandrasekhar Rao.