That all political parties in Andhra Pradesh have double standards on the Telangana issue was reinforced by the December 23 statement of Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram. The TDP openly extended its support to a separate State of Telangana. It even entered into an alliance with the TRS during the 2009 elections. Now, all the parties are accusing the Centre of not consulting the people’s representatives before announcing the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. How is it that the parties supported the proposal to adopt a resolution on the creation of Telangana on December 7, when the Chief Minister convened an all-party meeting? Did they elicit the opinion of the people of the three regions?
It is impossible to bring all the political parties on a single platform. The Centre should form a committee to elicit the opinion of the people of the three regions on the formation of Telangana within a stipulated time-frame.
Srinivasa Rao Muppalla,
Visakhapatnam
The need of the hour is to bring back normality in Andhra Pradesh which has been in turmoil for one month now. The common man is facing hardship in view of the utter failure of law and order, on the one hand, and the abnormal price rise, on the other. Political parties have lost their credibility. The State should be brought under President’s rule. After normality is restored, a referendum should be conducted to ascertain the wishes of the people on the proposed bifurcation.
M. Mercy,
Hyderabad
A decision on whether or not to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh should be taken on the basis of a broad consensus without leaving the ground to politicians. A committee of experts should be constituted to go into the arguments advanced by both sides. Meanwhile, some kind of autonomy can be granted to the Telangana region, finances can be allocated to the three regions on the basis of a finance commission recommendation, and a commission can go into the question of water-sharing and irrigation projects. Separate High Court benches should be constituted for the Andhra and the Telangana region. Development hubs or clusters should be created to provide employment opportunities. If all these or such other steps fail to remove the feeling of neglect among the people of Telangana, a separate State can be formed.
A. Leelamohan Rao,
Guntur
The Union Home Minister should invite the captains of industry too for the crucial talks on January 5. Much of the stupendous growth of industry is now concentrated in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. The remarkable progress of Andhra Pradesh is entirely due to the growth of industries.
G. Azeemoddin,
Anantapur
The Telangana issue is one of the many classic examples of the abuse of democratic governance. Despite the fact that bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh will put the common man to greater hardship in terms of resource-sharing and increased costs, political leaders are fooling the common man into believing that bifurcation will be beneficial to the people of the Telangana region.
One would do well to recollect the defiance of the Nizam of Hyderabad to accede to India or Pakistan. The reason was he was the world’s richest man and Hyderabad had its own army, airline, telecommunication system, railway network, postal system, currency and radio broadcasting service, with a huge GDP. Had he had his way and Hyderabad remained independent, the people of Andhra Pradesh would not have all that they have now. Let us learn from history and forget bifurcation, which will benefit only the political parties.
H.H. Kumaraswamy,
Hyderabad
It is disappointing to see that no view is being expressed on the role of students in the Telangana issue. But for the students, there would have been no agitation and the issue would have perhaps been resolved amicably. The involvement of students has become such a toxic potent that politicians seem to have lost their sense of proportion. Each one of them is competing with the other to display his or her loyalty to the Telangana cause. They have even started defying their parties and presuming that their election as MLA or MP has nothing to do with their party affiliation. The students should realise that their future is at stake.
G.R. Jagannadh,
Visakhapatnam
The leaders of Telangana have failed to address the basic issues of backwardness over the decades. Whenever they were cornered, they raked up the issue of a separate State. The Telangana region is naxal-infested, which is among the important reasons for its non-development. Again, it is the political leadership that is to blame as there is a tremendous gap between the haves and the have-nots, making the region fertile for the growth of naxalism. The movement for a separate state is being led by feudal forces. Thus the feudal elements as well as the Maoists are interested in consolidating their grip over the region, rather than strengthening democracy. Political leaders and bureaucrats of Rayalaseema and the Andhra regions are also responsible for the turmoil. With the requisite political will, 610 GOs could have been easily implemented.
The Centre has done the right thing by taking a decision to hold wide-ranging consultations with all political parties.
Firoz Khan,
Kadapa
