New Delhi: AICC General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Monday reportedly assured the Osmania University JAC delegation of a positive news on the Telangana State soon.
The OU JAC leaders, who met Singh here, demanded that the Centre hasten the decision on Telangana issue. They requested that the Congress Core Committee discuss the issue during its next meeting scheduled to be held on July 12. They also warned that people would go against the Congress party in Gram Panchayat elections if it fails to announce its decision before July 23.
While assuring the OUJAC leaders that there would be sweet news on the Telangana issue soon, Singh also offered them sweets.
Earlier, he told reporters that he had submitted his proposal in this regard to party president Sonia Gandhi. A decision would be taken soon, the party general secretary, who is in charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, said. He said the timing of the decision would depend on the preparedness of three state leaders - the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president - as they would have to present their case before the party's top brass.
"When they get ready and Sonia Gandhi has time, they will appear before the Core Committee and a decision would be taken soon," he said. When asked if an announcement would be made in this month, he declined to put a time frame.
Singh was in Andhra Pradesh recently and had held deliberations with party leaders over the issue. Congress top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, had met last week to discuss the statehood issue.
With Lok Sabha as well as Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh not far away, the party is under increasing pressure from its Telangana leaders to take a decision on the issue. The state is divided on regional lines in the matter.
Support for separate statehood
It appears that many legislators from the Seemandhra region are planning to defy their respective party directives to vote in favour of the Union government declaring the formation of a separate state of Telangana if and when such a resolution is moved in the Assembly.
Moving a resolution seeking the formation of Telangana state appears to be imminent. This was indicated by Digvijay Singh during his recent visit to the state. Singh said a resolution by the Assembly is essential under Article 3 of the Constitution. He said similar resolutions were passed by the Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Assemblies before the Centre had bifurcated those states in 2000.
Even in meetings held with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, Digvijay Singh had hinted moving the resolution in the Assembly as a precursor to the bifurcation.
Next: How the Telangana file moved forward
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How the Telangana file moved forward
In fact, then Home minister P. Chidambaram’s statement of December 9, 2009, read: “The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the state Assembly.”
On December 10, 2009, Chidambaram in the Rajya Sabha, and the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in the Lok Sabha, had both made similar statements which are part of Parliament’s records.
The then Chief Minister, K. Rosaiah, could not, however, move the appropriate resolution in the state Assembly the next day because of disturbances in the House on the question of bifurcation, which finally resulted in the resignations of 140 MLAs who opposed the move.
The House was also abruptly adjourned by the then Speaker N. Kiran Kumar Reddy due to continuous disturbances. A few months later, Rosaiah told the media that when he was asked by the Congress high command to move the motion, he told them he cannot do it.
Under Rule 77, a resolution can be moved by any member or minister in the Assembly, and after it is passed, it will be referred to the concerned ministry in the Union government.
If all political parties adhere to their stated positions on Telangana, there should be no problem passing the resolution for a divided state.
Since the mover of the resolution is going to be none other than the Chief Minister, the Congress’s 146 MLAs will vote in favour.
The Telugu Desam with 79 (the party has publicly announced its pro-Telangana stand), Telangana Rashtra Samiti with 17 MLAs, the BJP with three and the CPI with four and two Independents, all supporters of Telangana, will ensure that the votes in favour of the resolution will be 251 in an Assembly of 279.
The snag, of course, is that these numbers include legislators from the Seemandhra region too. But they are unlikely to give in tamely. Even if whips are issued to legislators by their respective parties, Seemandhra legislators cutting across party lines are bound to defy it and vote against the resolution.
The ruling Congress party cannot afford to take action against its own defiant MLAs as the stability of government is at stake.
With the general election only a few months away, legislators from the Seemandhra region have threatened to resign, something their parties can ill afford at this juncture. Much therefore depends on how political parties manage their legislators if it comes to a resolution in the Assembly.