Letters: Telangana Catch 22

This refers to the editorial "Lessons from Hyderabad" (October 9). The announcement by then Home Minister P Chidambaram, in 2009, for the creation of Telangana, taken at the height of an indefinite fast by Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K Chandrashekhar Rao, had resulted in protests in the non-Telangana regions and opposition from ministers and leaders from within the Congress. This forced the central government to put the issue on hold. But the United Progressive Alliance's decision at this belated stage to announce the creation of a separate Telangana state by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh seems solely aimed at winning support of the people of Telangana and bringing TRS Chief KC Rao in the UPA fold for the 2014 general elections. The Congress took the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions for granted and its attempt to get the best of both worlds has backfired. Now, if it sticks to the decision on Telangana it will be a big loser in the Seemandhra region and if it backtracks then it will end up losing in Telangana.

M C Joshi Lucknow

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