Opinion Marching slowly on Telangana

But will this march be just another blip on the Centre’s radar? Is the Congress-led UPA really taking note of the agitations and protests for Telangana? In Hyderabad,which is the centre of all such agitations,no one has any idea how New Delhi views the popular sentiment for Telangana and the passion with which people are willing to fight for a separate state.

Nearly three years after P. Chidambaram’s famous statement on December 9,2009,that the process of creating a Telangana state had been set in motion,no one in the region knows clearly what the Centre or the Congress Working Committee plans to do about the demand for a Telangana state and when. Not even a hint has come from the Congress,let alone assurance. There is only speculation: some say an announcement is expected this week,some say it will happen soon,others feel it may take more time.

Meanwhile,there have been numerous protests,strikes,shutdowns and suicides. Osmania University students have borne the brunt of police action while participating in protests for a separate Telangana state. But after Chidambaram’s statement in 2009,things have not really moved forward,beyond the Srikrishna Committee report,which indicates that the process of creating a new state is actually going on. A few resignations aside,even elected members not have much visible effort.

Some who resigned in protest against the delay in creating the new state got re-elected; others did not and the matter rests there. Over the last three years,during every Parliament and state assembly session,MPs and MLAs from Telangana have protested either inside or outside the House,raised slogans and issued statements. Every time,after a brief furore,it all becomes quiet until another occasion arises. It is common for Hyderabad journalists to rush to the houses of Telangana Congress MPs or to MLA quarters,expecting to hear some news on Telangana. But with the ball in the Centre’s court,no one really has any information that is not based on speculation. Even seasoned Congress MPs and leaders have not been able to elicit a proper response from the Congress high command. Worse,they are not even sure whether the Centre takes the Telangana issue as seriously as people in Hyderabad do.

The president of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS),K. Chandrasekhar Rao,claimed that a Telangana state would be declared “very soon’’ while Union minister Vayalar Ravi stated that people from all regions had to be consulted and a consensus evolved before a decision could be taken. Such disparate claims and statements only add to the Telangana conundrum.

Another major impediment to arriving at a solution is the lack of direct communication between grassroot pro-Telangana groups like the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC),which organised the September 30 March and the million march last year,and the Congress at the Centre. It was only recently that TJAC members met senior leaders like Ghulam Nabi Azad,Vayalar Ravi and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for the first time. Otherwise,they depend on Telangana Congress MPs to communicate with the high command. However,it appears that Congress MPs from Telangana are not able to assert themselves and cut no ice with the decision-makers in Delhi. They usually dash off to the AICC all charged up about the demand for a Telangana state but are handed a ticket back home,along with a few soothing words on the matter being under serious consideration. As a regional political party,the TRS can spearhead the Telangana agitations but is unable to force the hand of the Congress.

The constitution of the Srikrishna Committee in 2009 bought time for the Congress to put off making a decision on Telangana. The committee submitted its report in January 2011,suggesting six options that were unacceptable to everyone,which gave the Congress more reason for delay. But the party also has its own reasons for treading gingerly on the matter. Congress MPs and MLAs from coastal and Rayalaseema regions form a strong anti-Telangana pressure group. They are especially opposed to Hyderabad becoming the capital of the proposed state,making the whole issue a prickly one for the party. The most convenient — though highly debatable — option for the Congress seems to be to let the stalemate continue.

janyala.srinivas@expressindia.com