Wary over Hyderabad status,TRS puts merger plan on hold

October 22, 2013 04:17 am | Updated November 16, 2021 09:08 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

Uncertainty over the status of Hyderabad in the post-bifurcation scenario in the wake of talk that either it would be made a Union Territory or the Centre would have controlling powers on it appears to have put the merger of Telangana Rashtra Samithi with the ruling party on the back-burner.

This coupled with the increasing pressure on the TRS leadership from different sections to maintain a separate political identity has reliably forced it to push the matter of “working with the Congress” into cold storage. TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao had announced in Delhi last year that they were not averse to merger with the Congress after the Bill on formation of Telangana was passed by Parliament.

However, things started changing after July 30 with the Congress Working Committee approving statehood to Telangana by proposing to make Hyderabad the joint capital for the initial 10 years and the talk of giving Union Territory status to the city gaining weight.

Main condition

Sources in TRS told The Hindu that they were still open to the idea of merger provided statehood is given to Telangana, including 10 districts and Hyderabad as capital with unrestricted administrative powers, including law and order, on Hyderabad. “We don’t want a weak Telangana government that will have no or little control on Hyderabad,” sources said.

The Congress in Telangana, the TRS believes, would go into oblivion even if it gives Telangana by tinkering with the status of Hyderabad. One more consideration that is holding TRS back on the merger issue was the waning prospects of the Congress at the national level.

“The writing on the wall is clear and in such circumstances it will be foolish to surrender the advantage of being the lead party in the region and make good bargains for the new State,” the sources said.

The issue of merger was premature since the process on formation of Telangana was not complete and their focus now was on the de-merger of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh, a TRS leader said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.