AP Congress Leaders Face A Loaded Gun In Form Of GoM

By Ramesh Reddy / Hyderabad

The single biggest issue that the Group of Ministers on bifurcation of AP — packed with political leaders who know State affairs inside out — is expected to look at is the status of Hyderabad. What is clear from the reconstituted GoM, significantly changed from its original avatar, is that the UPA is counting on Union Ministers capable of bulldozing Congressmen on both sides of the divide.

This theory gains ground in the wake of specific information that Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had conveyed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi that he would not like to be “caught” between party leaders from the two sides on the status of Hyderabad.
This happened after a “leak” from Shinde’s office a few weeks ago that three options are being considered for Hyderabad, one of which is making it a Union Territory. Telangana leaders, prominent among them, Union Minister S Jaipal Reddy, immediately stepped in to ensure that the proposal was spiked. This was, apparently not to the liking of Seemandhra ministers.

Therefore, when Shinde called on Sonia Gandhi to explain his predicament, she suggested that the matter be left to the GoM. That was how the October 3 Cabinet note came to be prepared exactly on the lines of the CWC resolution without proposing alternatives on Hyderabad. The GoM is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Friday.

At the October 3 Cabinet meet, Union Minister MM Pallam Raju, who represents Andhra, reportedly suggested that the 10-year time-frame for Hyderabad as a joint capital be removed. “The new capital for Andhra can be built within 5-7 years. Therefore, leave it open-ended as it would help pacify people of Seemandhra,” was his line. Jaipal was said to have intervened to counter the argument, saying that time-frame should be mentioned as otherwise, it could lead to trouble in Telangana and there is always the threat of Hyderabad becoming a permanent capital.

But, at the same time, Jaipal Reddy and two other leaders from Telangana — Marri Sashidhar Reddy and K Jana Reddy — are said to have begun some efforts to open a channel of communication with their counterparts from Andhra-Rayalaseema to break the impasse.

They are said to be keen that some way out to placate the other side should be found to facilitate introduction of the bill in Parliament during the winter session in December.

So far, Seemandhra leaders have not shown any great interest in the mediation.

While Congressmen are keen that Telangana state should be formed ahead of the next elections, they are aware of the hurdle in the form of TRS. Any dilution on Hyderabad could give the handle for the TRS to rule out a merger/alliance with the Congress. That could derail the Congress plan to have maximum seats from Telangana, though ruling party leaders are not unduly worried over whatever position the TRS takes. In fact, a section of Congressmen are in not favour of an alliance — it has to be an outright merger or nothing.

Meanwhile, two contradictory theories are being propounded over the GoM not being a given a time-frame to complete its task while the original Cabinet note mentioned it as six weeks. While some argue that the process could be completed well before six weeks, the other view is that it gives scope for delaying the process.