Fingers crossed over Congress' likely move on Telangana

Expectations over a possible decision soon on the long pending issue of Telangana statehood by the Congress leadership are growing among the party leaders from the region.

"There could be a surprise announcement," said a minister in the Kiran Kumar Reddy's Cabinet even as the chief minister as well as Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Botcha Satyanarayana during their informal interactions have been maintaining that a decision in favour of a separate statehood was highly unlikely.

Local media had been abuzz with reports for the past one week indicating that the Congress core committee was considering some kind of a package for the Telangana region as a possible substitute for the statehood. Giving credence to these talks, former PCC president D Srinivas is said to have been camping in Delhi only to convince the party leadership of his candidature for the post of chairman if it decides to announce a statutory regional council for Telangana by giving powers over finances and jobs to it.

However, several Congress leaders from Telangana, including senior ministers like K Jana Reddy, are opposed to any offer other than the separate statehood and are actively preparing for a proposed rally in support of Telangana state on June 30.

Congress critics say the rally is yet another ploy by the party leadership to keep the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)'s attempts at monopolising the issue ahead of the general elections under check, particularly in the light of the recent 'chalo Assembly' protest led by the TRS.

Political circles also believe a decision that attempts to please the people of this region is on the cards as there is no way the Congress would go to the polls for the third consecutive term in this region without making its stand clear on the vexed issue. With the elections hardly 10 months away, anymore dilemma in the Congress leadership would only strengthen the prospects of the TRS resulting in large scale desertions from the ruling party, say observers.

Early last month, two of the Congress Lok Sabha members apart from senior leader K Kesava Rao joined the TRS after declaring that separate statehood was not possible under the Congress rule. Another immediate threat comes from the YSR Congress, which is considered to be the main political challenger to the Congress in the next elections across coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions.

The YSR Congress has by far failed to actively expand into the Telangana region only because the issue of the statehood has been kept alive by the Congress, which is still says it is not against the idea of a separate state.

As most of the elected representatives and leaders in the YSR Congress in the coastal region came from the ruling Congress, the same may repeat in Telangana if they see no future for themselves by continuing their association with the ruling party.