With the month-long time deadline set by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to resolve the vexatious Telangana issue having ended on Sunday, he sought more time stating that the decision might get delayed as consultations with stakeholders were still on and it might take a little time to reach a final decision.
Earlier, echoing the same view, Congress general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh and Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said the party wanted to go in for further consultations by interacting with leaders of the Telangana and Seemandhra regions, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and APCC president Botcha Satyanarayana.
Asked for the deadline within which the decision would be taken, Mr. Azad said: “There is no deadline but the talks will be held as soon as possible.”
The announcement of the Ministers disappointed Telangana protagonists who were hoping that this time the Centre would honour its promise of announcing the decision on the separate State demand . Mr. Shinde, after an all-party meeting on the subject here on December 28 last, said the Centre’s decision would be taken in a month’s time.
As the stir for the separate State restarted in Hyderabad and elsewhere on Sunday by the Telangana Joint Action Committee as well as those who are for continuation of a united Andhra Pradesh, informed sources said the Centre wanted to tread very carefully on the issue as it involved not only of tackling the law and order problem but also the survival of the UPA-II regime at the Centre and the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh.
While MPs from Telangana had threatened to quit the post and the Congress and join the Telangana Rashtra Samiti if Telangana assurance was not honoured, those from the Seemandhra region have threatened to join hands with the YSR Congress if the State was divided.
Considering the catch-22 situation faced by the Centre as well as the Congress, there was no other alternative except to drag the issue further, the sources said.
Keywords: Telangana agitation, statehood demand, TJAC, Andhra bifurcation, Srikrishna panel, Seemandhra, Ghulam Nabi Azad
Government is doing vote bank politics and surely it will pay the
cost..
UPA seems lacks the political will..
One should note that the issue was unresolved for past 60 years and I
hope it will not in the future also. Whether it is Congress party or
BJP, no body would find an answer. There should be clear division of
line between hope and real. It would be good for the separatists to
hold the path of growth. There should be an end to this flames.
A political logjam which will become even worse as the issue is dragged on. The Congress is to blame for the current situation, first for having hastily pronounced, through the then Home Minister Mr. P. Chidambaram, that a separate Telangana state would be formed and then for the inordinate delays in making a decision despite having the recommendations of Justice Srikrishna's panel.
What is baffling is the consultations which are going on now. It should have been matter which should have been thoroughly exercised well in the past, perhaps immediately after receiving Justice Srikrishna Panel's report. The status quo offers no relief to anybody and it only extends the agony of anticipation, not to mention the prospects of further agitations and retarding the pace of economic growth in the region.
Do the geniuses in the Congress believe the problem will go away by
deferring the decisions. All that they are achieving is more violence,
damage injuries and possibly fatalities. Sooner or later they will have
to say yes or no.
Perhaps the intention is to stall till the next general election and
then toss the hot potato into the successor government's lap.
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