State prepares for Telangana decision

Additional forces are being brought to Andhra Pradesh in the light of strong reports that the Centre may announce its decision on Telangana next month.

The presence of paramilitary forces on the sensitive Osmania University campus in the city and other places in the Telangana region is visible again from the last couple of days. Officials confirmed that they would be receiving additional forces totalling 80 companies from outside the state by the end of this month.

Earlier the Centre had sent 60 companies of paramilitary forces when the Telangana agitation was at its peak with occasional violent outbursts last year. Of this, about 30 companies were shifted to other states where the Assembly elections were held. The movement of additional forces to Telangana coincides with the talk in the upper echelons of power that the Centre may opt for a via media solution to this vexed issue.

Sources in the government and political circles said that the Centre might announce its intent of forming a statutory council for the Telangana region with appropriate constitutional amendments that would provide autonomy to the region within the framework of the state. This will guarantee allocation of 42 per cent of the total financial resources and jobs among other things, along with a one-time financial package for the development of the region.

Incidentally, the Justice Srikrishna Committee had mentioned creation of a statutory authority for the Telangana region as one of six options to resolve the Telangana tangle.

“Whether this option is agreeable to the political parties such as the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and its own leaders from the region is a different matter. At least the government's move will create a scope of winning over the moderate sections within Telangana. It is better than maintaining a non-committal stance,” said a senior government official.

Senior leaders in the UPA government including Pranab Mukherjee, P Chidambaram and Gulam Nabi Azad, who is in charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs, did not give any scope for speculation when the MPs and ministers from the region visited Delhi to put pressure on the Centre.

A few Congress MPs from the Telangana region on Monday said they would sit on a fast unto death from July 5 as part of their final showdown in support of their demand. The TRS-controlled political joint action committee (JAC) too has announced its agitational programme starting next month.