Is Mayawati Going to Become a Hurdle For Telangana?

Going by the reports appearing in the media, it is almost certain that the UPA government is in no mood to give in to the demand of a separate Telangana state. It is learnt that the Center, with the winter session of Parliament going to start from tomorrow, is holding consultations with its allies for the formation of a Telangana Regional Development Council.

An indication that the UPA government is not inclined to allow the formation of a separate Telangana state came with the Prime Minister's statement on November 13. "We cannot solve the problem of Telangana by agreeing to Telangana being given while there is disquiet and unrest in the other regions of Andhra Pradesh," Dr Manmohan Singh had said. Obviously, this move will be resisted by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, which is in the forefront of Telangana agitation. "We will stall proceedings in Parliament along with BSP and other like-minded parties. Rashid Alvi himself has said the second SRC does not apply to Telangana," TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao already have hinted at Hyderabad, before leaving for Delhi today.

The main objection pro-Telanganaites have against TRDC is that the regional council has been a tried and tested option that has not worked in the past. There was a statutory council for Telangana with a local as chairperson right from the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. That was disbanded when NT Rama Rao became the Chief Minister in 1982. YS Rajasekhara Reddy revived the council in 2004 with the promise of economic package for the development of the region but that remained merely an advisory body that changed little on the ground.

Senior political observers say that the disgruntled T-protagonists will certainly tag along Ms. Mayawati's proposal of splitting UP state in to four parts with their separate Telangana demand. This way both of them will hang together in pressuring the center to concede to their demands. This is likely to attract the other twenty odd demands of re-organization in different states, that are lying dormant since long. This situation will eventually lead the UPA government to go for a second SRC, which the UPA is not in a position to constitute, atleast till 2014.