Separation anxiety

Andhra burns over

Telangana split

Table of contents

Cabinet approves Telangana, Congress ministers quit

Cabinet approves creation of separate Telangana state Pallam Raju becomes second Union Minister to quit over Telangana formation Telangana: What Congress hopes to gain from protests, resignations Telangana creation: Five things you need to know 04 06 07 09

Protests across Seemandhra

From power crisis to resignations: Key facts on Telangana fallout Telangana protests: Temple festivities, hotels in Tirupati bear brunt How the battle over Telangana has affected the citizens of AP 11 13 14

Naidu and Jagan go on fasts to protest Telangana

Read: Jagan and Naidus previous letters supporting Telangana Fasting for allies: How Jagan, Naidu are using Telangana Dear Mr Naidu, heres why youre a hypocrite on Telangana Telangana: Dear Jagan, Naidu, who are your protests fooling? Telangana political football: Why Jagan, Cong, Naidu are all guilty 17 19 21 23 25

How the Congress is trying to tide over the crisis

Telangana woes: Why Congress will settle for Presidents rule Telangana vs Seemandhra: Blame Congs nonsense for the mess Not a single concern on Telangana has been addressed: Reddy Telangana crisis: Why Congress needs to stop playing holier than thou Escape velocity? Rahul Gandhi may also contest Medak in Telangana 28 30 32 33 35

Its all about the money

Hyderabad: Why Telangana-Seemandhra are fighting Whats holding up Telangana: MPs business interests 38 40

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Cabinet approves Telangana, Congress ministers quit

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separate Telangana state

The Centre on Thursday took the first significant step towards creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.
PTI, Oct 3, 2013

Cabinet approves creation of

ew Delhi: The Centre on Thursday took the first significant step towards creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh and decided that Hyderabad will be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years.

and guarantees including fundamental rights of the people of coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana will be ensured, he said. The Cabinet approved a GoM that will go into the issue of a special financial disbursement that may be required from the central government for the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh, for building its capital and to cater to special needs of the backward regions. The new state will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Today's decision brings to fruition the announcement made by the then Home Minister P Chidambaram on December 9, 2009 for creation of Telangana.

Over two months after the Congress Working Committee put its seal of approval, the Union Cabinet approved the proposal of the Home Ministry for creation of the 29th state and decided to set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to work out modalities. "The Cabinet has given its approval for the creation of a new state of Telangana," Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told reporters after the meeting that lasted more than two hours. He said it was decided that Hyderabad will be the common capital of the two bifurcated states for 10 years. After the creation of the new state, the security

According to sources, the Prime Minister, who listened to all the views, said Congress as well as UPA have already taken a call on the creation of Telangana so there was no need to cause further delay on it. Reiterating the committment to the creation of the separate state, Singh also assured the government will see to it that all the issues related to coastal Andhra, Telangana and Rayalseema are properly addressed." The issue was discussed for close to one and half hours in the meeting and Singh asked all ministers to give their opinions. Raju and Rao, who opposed the decision, argued that after the bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh
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will become the poorest state in the country as most of the resources would be left for Telangana region, including Hyderabad which is the most developed and prosperous city in the region. However, Union Ministers S Jaipal Reddy, who hails from Telangana region, and Jairam Ramesh countered them saying that with the bifurcation, both the states will develop and the decision of the CWC cannot be altered. NCP chief and Union Minister Sharad Pawar said the creation of Telangana is a must and recalled that his party had supported its creation in 2004. Union Minister and RLD chief Ajit Singh, who strongly supported the Telangana decision, also used the occassion to pitch for a separate state of Harit Pradesh to be carved out of parts of Western UP. A release by the government said the GoM, whose setting up has been approved by the Cabinet, will work out the "various legal and administrative measures to ensure the safety and

security of the residents of all the regions" of the state including the guarantee of the fundamental rights. "The GoM will also work out the modalities for the provision of special financial disbursements required for the setting up of a new capital for the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh and to meet the special needs of the backward regions and districts of the two states,"it said. Talking to reporters after the decison, Reddy said "I am very happy. The people of Telangana had been demanding a separate state for the last 60 years and we are grateful to the UPA government as well as Congress party. I am hopeful that the bill for the creation of Telangana will be passed in the winter session." Replying to a question about the protest by some of his colleagues from Seemandhra region to the decision, he said "a strong agitation is going on against the creation of Telangana state in the Seemandhra region and being the representatives of people there, the ministers have reflected that sentiment."

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Pallam Raju becomes second Union

Minister to quit over Telangana formation
Raju said that he had offered to resign last evening but had been advised by the Prime Minister to not act in haste.
FP Politics Oct 4, 2013

nion Minister for Human Resources Development MM Pallam Raju today said that he would be tendering his resignation over the Union Cabinet's decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh.

Congress Working Committee decision an agitation had been on in Andhra Pradesh for teh last two months. He pointed out that a committee headed by defence minister AK Antony had been formed to look into the grievances of the people. "We hoped the committee would do the course correction that would be required for the government to proceed with the bifurcation," he said. However, without waiting for the report of the committee the Cabinet had rushed into the decision of forming the cabinet note for the formation of the new state, he said.

"I think this has been done in great haste without understanding the concerns of the region or take into consideration the sentiments of the Raju said that he had offered to resign last evening but had been advised by the Prime Min- people. It will be detimental to the long term interests of the state," he said. ister to not act in haste. "I have thought over it last night and I have decided that I should resign from the Union council of ministers. I have sought an appointment and will be tendering my resignation," he said. "It is a very sad day for Andhra Pradesh," Raju said. The Union HRD minister said that after the He said that the issue of maintaining peace in all three regions of the state should have been addressed before the Cabinet approved the decision. "I am deeply offended and aggrieved that we have not been able to articulate the concerns of the people well enough for the Cabinet," the Andhra Pradesh MP said.

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Telangana: What Congress hopes to gain from protests, resignations

33 of the UPAs 206 Congress MPs come from Andhra, but 2014 will be a very different poll, thanks to Jaganmohan Reddy and Telangana
FP Staff Oct 4, 2013 party with a famously centralised power structure has batted for federalism not everywhere in India, not in response to all demands for statehood that are perceived as economically viable and maybe advisable, but only in Andhra Pradesh, which gives the UPA as many as 33 Congress Members of Parliament. That this was a purely political decision is a given, coming as it does with months to go for polls and Andhra Pradesh has Assembly polls scheduled in 2014 alongside the Parliamentary elections.

The impact of the formation of Indias 29th state on Hyderabad called Cyberabad amid the infrastructural leaps and attractive business models it built in the early part of the last decade and on the investments coming into what will be the joint capital of Telangana and the rest of Andhra remain unknown. With Assembly polls due, how the backlash from the united Andhra activists will affect the Congress government run by N Kiran Kumar Reddy is also unclear. However, the Congress party in Delhi calculates that it will reap some political benefits.
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For one, the 33 MPs from united Andhra Pradesh in 2009 were key to the formation of the UPA. Much has changed since 2009 in the mega-states politics. Briefly, following the death of then chief minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy in a chopper crash in 2009, relations soured gravely between his son Jaganmohan Reddy and the Congress party high command. Alongside the turmoil over Telangana, Andhra Pradesh is expected to vote very differently in 2013 as compared to 2009. The Congress, needless to say, will take a body blow from the growing strength of the YSR Congress. The TRS, chief mover of the separate statehood demand, has its own loyal constituents, and the Congress will be hoping for the TRS agreeing to merge with it. With 17 of the 42 Andhra Pradesh Parliamentary constituencies to form Telanganas representation at the Centre, the Congress naturally expects these will be claimed by a friendly TRS or Congressmen themselves. What about the remaining seats, the votes of nearly 60 per cent Andhras voters? Amid growing mobilization by Jaganmohan Reddy and the TDPs Chandrababu Naidu

both have made overtures to the NDA, though only one is expected to make the cut the Congress will hardly be left with enough support at the grassroots to take the backlash from anti-Telangana parties in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. But the Congress will hope that these votes are fragmented. This is not the first time, or even the first general election, that has seen the Telangana issue flare up. Back in 2004, the Congress joined hands with the TRS and assured that a separate state of Telangana would be formed, only to backtrack later. In 2009, K Chandrashekhara Rao's fast unto death forced the Congress to bite the bullet and once again announce that separate statehood for Telangana was on their agenda, only to later set up a commission to look into the matter of bifurcating the state. When the Commission submitted its cautious report in 2010, the Congress may have hoped the status quo can be maintained even though the TRS opposed the report hotly. But then the Congress partys mathematics for the 2014 Parliamentary polls told a different tale.

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Five things you need to know

Everything you need to know about the creation of Indias 29th state.
FP Staff, Oct 4, 2013 he creation of Indias 29th state is welltimed, just in time for elections in 2014. Despite Andhra Pradeshs Congress chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy opposing the move along with senior Andhra Pradesh Congress leaders, the party at the Centre reckons the creation of Telangana will work in its favour in 2014. For one, no one party can claim control of the large state with a large majority among the 42 MPs in the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress inches closer to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. Jaganmohan Reddy will find it difficult to state his allegiances immediately, but with the CBI cases against him, hes cornered on this subject.

Telangana creation:

The new state of Telangana will see the light of day in about six months, during which a state re-organisation bill will be passed by Parliament and a series of other steps kick in. This includes the formation of a Group of Ministers (from Home, Finance, HRD, Health, Irrigation, Power, Environment and Forests, Railways) to look into the economic issues of Telangana. A unit under the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission to deal with any issues likely to be faced by Telangana. The Ministry of Finance will also appoint a committee to oversee financial management during the transition. Seemandhra and Rayalaseema have erupted in protests immediately, but in fact these regions are entering the 66th day of a bandh. During these two months, government offices have been paralysed owing to absent employees. Public transport and daily life have been badly hit too. In addition, a 72-hour bandh was announced in Kadapa district. Anantapur is expected to be shut for the next 48 hours. Local Congress leaders are an unhappy lot. The chief minister has called for an emergency meeting in a few hours from now, having already pleaded with his legislators not to take the knee-jerk reaction of en masse resignations. A series of senior Congressmen have resigned anyway -- MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar said he will resign, MP Sai Prathap has already resigned.

Telangana will comprise 10 of the Andhra Pradeshs 23 districts Hyderabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal.

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Protests across Seemandhra

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From power crisis to resignations:

Key facts on Telangana fallout

The 72-hour bandh against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh entered its fourth day today with Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra experiencing a near-complete shutdown.

he 72-hour bandh against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh entered its fourth day on Tuesday with Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra experiencing a near-complete shutdown. Electricity employees continue to be on strike, crippling infrastructure in the state including medical and transport services.

FP Staff Oct 8, 2013 Congress legislators in the state, however, decided against resigning as they felt they need to be in the Assembly and defeat the legislation when it is put forth before the House. * Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kirankumar Reddy has also refused to commit to resigning over the issue and said that he didnt care about holding on to the seat of power. My seat is a small sacrifice, he had said, adding that the government should keep in abeyance any decision to go ahead with the formation of the new state of Telangana. No decision should be taken Surely not before elections, he had said. Power crisis * Large parts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions continue to remain in darkness for the third day with electricity employees on strike. There is a possibility of the power crisis affecting the entire Southern Grid. On Monday, Hardly 2,990 MW of thermal power was produced as against the installed capacity of 6,090 MW in the state. Similarly, power from the hydel generation stood at 1,694 MW against the installed capacity of 3,937 MW. Several gasbased power plants have been shut due to gas shortage. * According to a report in TOI, the centre has issued a directive to Andhra state officials to cut generation so that frequency does not drop below 49.5 hertz. "Since we are maintaining the frequency level at 49.6 hertz at present, there is no immediate threat to the southern grid. Our load dispatch centres are monitoring the situation every minute," Munindra, in-charge CMD,
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Here are the key developments that have taken place since the Union Cabinet decided to give Telangana the green signal on 04 October: Resignations *Four Union ministers - HRD minister MM Pallam Raju, Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi, MoS Commerce D Purandeswari and MoS Railways Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy - submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh explaining their inability to be part of the government, saying the crisis could be defused only if the Centre delayed the process of forming the new state. They say they will not attend their offices from today.

APTransco, told TOI. The Indian electricity grid code says that the permissible frequency band for grid operations to be followed strictly by all member states is 49.5Hz to 50.2Hz. Trains * Railway service in and out of Andhra Pradesh have also been largely affected. Hundreds of train passengers were stranded at various stations in Srikakulam district bordering Odisha as the movement of trains between Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam were hit. Railways cancelled several trains in areas including Guduru and Vijayawada, which is one of the biggest transit hubs in south India. Some trains even ran with diesel engines. * Law and order * The Union government appealed to people to create an environment for a healthy dialogue process and assured all regions of Andhra Pradesh that an an amicable solution that safeguards interests of all will be found. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday and updated him about the law and order situation in the state saying adequate forces were already in place to thwart any untoward incidents.

* Former AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is on an indefinite strike in New Delhi while YSR Congress Chief Jagan Mohan Reddy is on a fast in Hyderabad. On Monday, Naidu accused Congress of playing politics in view of the Lok Sabha polls, but remained ambivalent on Telangana. "They (Congress party) are treating Andhra Pradesh issue as the internal affair of the party. They are interested in politics, not governance or state or people. They are saying everything in terms of politics. Things are becoming worse day by day." * Reddy had on Sunday said the Congress party was responsible for dividing the state. "Sonia Gandhi is responsible for the crisis in the state and she has been playing with the sentiments of people with the singular motive of seeing to it that her son Rahul Gandhi is made PM," Jagan alleged. * Services to the famous Venkateswara temple at Tirumala was also affected. The temple observes an annual Brahmotsavam during the Navratri festival, involving a twice-daily procession of the deity, but has been affected by the protests. According to media reports, this was perhaps the first time that the temple administration could not provide transport facilities to pilgrims. The hotel industry in the area was also badly hit with many suffering huge loses and even considering shutting down permanently.

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Telangana protests: Temple festivities,

hotels in Tirupati bear brunt

Pilgrims to the temple town that is currently celebrating annual Navratri festivities inconvenienced, hotels on verge of closure.
FP Staff Oct 8, 2013

he Venkateswara temple at Tirumala which observes an annual 'Brahmotsavam' during the Navratri festival, involving a twice-daily procession of the deity, has had an unexpected hindrance this year -- the Samaikyandhra or united Andhra agitation that has picked up steam after the Union Cabinet decision last week.

hill with their luggage with roads closed temporarily. "With no mode of transport available, pilgrims had to walk almost 3 kilometers with heavy bags to reach Alipiri. With the ghat roads being closed, they had to walk up the hills. Food arrangements were made by the TTD for the devotees who reached Alipiri," the report said. The power outage hit the temple town too, with the hotel industry worst affected, especially given that the Brahmotsavam is usually one of the peak pilgrim seasons. Occupancy rates have been disappointing and running the hotels without power supply was, for some, tougher than shutting down completely for the period of the agitation. The New Indian Express reported that not only was the latest spike in the agitations crippling -- hotels earned only 20 percent of their regular revenue -- but the two-month long shutdown has dealt a body blow too. Some hotels in the town that is almost entirely dependent on tourism "are almost on the verge of pulling down their shutters permanently", the report said.

Over the weekend, it was reported on Friday that pilgrims to the hill-top temple in Tirupati were caught in the crossfire when buses were stopped by anti-Telangana agitators. The Deccan Chronicle reported that perhaps for the first time ever, the temple administration was unable to provide transportation arrangements for pilgrims, many forced to climb the

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How the battle over Telangana has affected the citizens of AP

Related sectors are bearing the brunt of the power industry strike in Seemandhra.
FP Staff Oct 9, 2013 mid sporadic violence across districts protesting the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and a power blackout that could get worse in some parts of Seemandhra, related sectors have taken a body blow too, causing losses to industry, untold inconvenience to citizens and rising prices for consumers.

The direct impact on construction cost has been about an additional Rs 20 per sq ft, according to the report. Other reports said the state's agricultural marketing department had taken a hit too -- with the transport sector striking work and roads blocked in some parts of the state. Supply lines for vegetables and fruits were choked, leading to prices of essential commodities rising. Onions were sold at Rs 70 a kg in Hyderabad this week. Some parts of Seemandhra were hit by a serious fuel shortage too. While there were reports of a violent mob at a petrol pump in Guntur, in Anantapur district, with no power to operate fuel tanks at petrol pumps, there was no petrol or diesel at almost all reflling stations. This meant diesel-run generators, a staple for thousands of households, offices, hospitals, shops and other establishments, also lay defunct. Wherever there was fuel still available, long queues of panic-hit consumers waited to stock up. Even as fuel tankers made their way to the affected districts, a report in Hindu said blackmarketing was rampant. "Cashing in the situation, some people continue to making hay by black-marketing the petrol and diesel. It is learnt that most of the hospitals bought diesel at Rs 100 per litre to sustain operations while motorists bought petrol at close to Rs 150 per litre. It is learnt that the situation further worsened with the employees of HPCL and IOC fuel stations at Guntakal going on a strike," the report said. In addition to surgeries being called off in opCopyright 2012 Firstpost

Sand prices in Hyderabad and in other large towns in Andhra Pradesh have hit the roof, leading to rising construction costs. Supplies from coastal Andhra have all but dried up in the past few days, after having already slowed over the past two months. A Times of India report quoted dealers as saying sand prices were up by about 50 per cent, from Rs 1,100 per tonne to Rs 1,600 per tonne. "In Hyderabad, at least 500 big to mid-sized projects have been affected due to the transport strike and the rising costs of raw materials," the report said. With construction schedules and delivery deadlines to adhere to, most builders have preferred to absorb the additional cost, it said

eration theatres hit by the blackout and neo0natal wards' incubators falling defunct, kidney patients on daily dialysis suffered too as government hospitals they visited regularly turned them away and reports of private clinics overcharging them emerged. According to a report in the Times of India, hospitals spending more on operating dialysis machines with diesel-run generators said they were helpless. One hospital was charging Rs 2,000 per sitting, twice the regular fee.

The government-run Arogyasri insurance scheme was also of little use since private hospitals using diesel-run generators cited higher operating costs to hike fees for various treatment procedures including dialysis. Most patients on dialysis need a sitting every alternate day. "We hurriedly bought a 180 kv generator on rent of Rs 10,000 per day. We are spending nearly Rs 40,000 on fuel. It may not be possible to provide services for all patients as we have only eight dialysis units," Dr Ramakrishna, a nephrologist at a private hospital told TOI.

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Naidu and Jagan go on fasts to protest Telangana

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Read: Jagan and Naidus previous

letters supporting Telangana

FP Staff Oct 9, 2013

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Naidu are using Telangana

Both men fasting 1,200 km apart are hoping to score political brownie points with the BJP, Jaganmohan reddy more ambiguously so, what with his need to keep all options open.

Fasting for allies: How Jagan,

Kavitha Iyer Oct 8, 2013 better balance between welfare schemes and reforms, he was almost statesman-like. Not to mention the comfortable relationship he shared with the NDA at the Centre. An early election must've seemed like one in the bag. As things turned out, the sympathy wave he expected was not even a ripple. The Congress was at its wily best, tying up seat adjustments with once-bitter rivals and telling the vast number of voters untouched by the Cyberabad dreams that Naidu was no more than a stooge of the World Bank. Unluckily for him, Assembly elections had to be held simultaneously with the NDA's attempt to return to power on its India Shining campaign. And the TDP, for the most part, was history. Nearly a decade later, Andhra Pradesh is not the model state its once-CEO had dreamt of. The tussle for top honours on investments and industry is now between Gujarat and Maharashtra. The new model state, Narendra Modi would like us to believe, is his. It is aspirant statesman Modi who invites diplomats and shares the stage with the chief of a global energy giant who has just made large investments in India. "Nobody of my stature has fasted in Delhi before," Naidu told reporters at a press conference in the capital where he seemed tired and devoid of fresh ideas, picking a grating and repetitive petulance instead. It was a sad throwback to the pre-2004 years. Truth is, depleted in Andhra Pradesh, Naidu had no hope of gathering numbers to match the
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istening to former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in Delhi on Monday, one couldn't help but remember 2004.

It was a few months since he fortuitously escaped a Peoples War Group bid on his life, in a landmine blast. The CM's former colleague K Chandrashekhar Rao was ratcheting up the call for Telangana once again, a few years and some electoral successes after he had set up the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. The TRS would contest the next poll in alliance with the Congress. Naidu himself had a comfortable hold over Andhra Pradesh, having christened himself the CEO of the state, endearing himself to some sections with his dynamism, his wooing of World Bank funds and foreign investment, and his vision of Andhra Pradesh as a model for other states to follow. The intra-party murmurings since he unseated his father-inlaw had also died down. In fact, with his radical ideas on the role of government as facilitator instead of provider, his gumption to suggest a

large troops of YSR supporters who streamed into the vicinity of Jagan's Banjara Hills home to support their hero's son. Naidu could hardly have organised a parallel fast with a fraction of the turnout. A fast in Delhi was the only politically expedient thing to do. For the same reasons, though Naidu has been an ally of the BJP and the NDA in the past, he will now doubtless have to earn any possible alliance with Narendra Modi. There are no holy cows in the Modi juggernaut, nobody is untouchable, so Jaganmohan Reddy's vying for the affections of the BJP's prime ministerial candidate will simply weigh against Naidu's modest attempt at a barb on Sonia Gandhi's origin with an Italian word thrown in, immobilismo or principally opposed to progress, "so the Congress understands". It's silly season, they say, as elections are around the corner. So nobody believes any of this is anything more than political posturing. The BJP, and Modi

himself in his now-famous "open letter" to Hyderabadis, has embraced the convenient stand that they remain committed to statehood for Telangana, but in a way that it's a win-win situation for all stakeholders. Just what is that win-win has been left unexplained to the people who will face sharpened inter-state water distribution conflicts, revenue crunches and more. Despite that stand, both men fasting 1,200 km apart are hoping to score political brownie points with the BJP, Jaganmohan reddy more ambiguously so, what with his need to keep all options open. So, here it is. The 70-day shutdown of government services in Seemandhra, the agitations and the picketing, these are ancillary right now. As the Telangana threads get more tangled, you can't help but agree with the protesting Congress chief minister of Andhra Pradesh -- this was hasty, politically expedient, but neither more nor less expedient than two indefinite hunger strikes.

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Dear Mr Naidu, heres why

youre a hypocrite on Telangana
Is it this love for Hyderabad that is making Naidu now hint that he supports a united AP?
Prashant Pandey, Oct 8, 2013

aidu thought he was being clever by using the word 'immobilismo' to describe the situation in Seemandhra. There is very little he can be clever about on this subject, and hence this recourse to Italian may be his only option.

So whats the real story here? Is there a conflict between his personal views and his partys? We do know that Naidu loves Hyderabad and rightfully claims credit for having made the city into an IT firepower. Is it this love for Hyderabad (in addition to the thousands of crores his family and friends have invested in the city) that is making him now hint that he supports a united AP? Also, can Naidu please decidere whether he has discussed his 'situazione' (predicament) with the BJP and Narendra Modi? Because it appears, at least for now, that the BJP is sticking to its declared support for Telangana (we cannot be sure when the party does a 'salto mortale' (somersault), as it did with its stand on overturning the SC verdict on convicted MPs/ MLAs).

But really, if he does want to speak Italian, maybe he should learn the meaning of the word 'Decidere' decide, in plain English! Decidere about where he stands on Telengana. For the media is saying that Naidu is not sure whether he supports or opposes the formation of Telengana. On the one hand we have a Digvijaya Singh claiming that Naidu had given a written letter supporting Telengana. Can Naidu please 'chiarere' (clarify) if this is factually 'corregerre' (correct)? Equally, all media outlets are saying that Naidu is sitting 'sulla recinzione' (on the fence) on this subject. The TOI writes today: "He remained non-committal on Telangana saying he couldnt choose from among three of his children.

If Naidu plans to support the BJP, it looks specious that he hasnt had a conversation with Modi when he famously shared the dais with him recently. Also, can we please know whether Naidu has invited Modi to sit in for a few minutes as he 'astenersi cibo' (abstains food..damn, cant find the exact word for fast in Italian!). Will Modi come if he is invited..he seems to be going everywhere these days, especially the bigger towns where TV cameras are available aplenty! Because really, it looks like Naidu is playing 'raggiungere' (catch up) with Jagan. Even Jagan has reportedly gone back on his partys support to the Telangana cause, but then that young leader has so much more charisma than Naidu. Why, Jagan has had the guts to undertake his fast in Hyderabad, the epicentre of the TelanCopyright 2012 Firstpost

gana struggle, where there is massive support for the breakaway state. Naidu, in contrast, has chosen to run away to Delhi maybe learning from Modi that the density of TV cameras is the highest in that city! Naidu can fast in Delhi, but he is not getting any good press. The TOI again reports that Naidu stressed that bifurcation of the state needed discussion and debate and inclusion of all stakeholders. But he refused to say which side of the divide he stood. He must know the Centre has done everything possible to discuss and debate. In the all-party meeting held on 1 August, the subject of Telangana was discussed. Naidus friendly partner the BJP, in fact issued this statement: "BJP demands that the government should bring a bill to create Telangana state in this session of Parliament itself. We will fully support the bill and ensure its passage so that the very old demand of Telananga is fulfilled." (source: Indian Express). In fact, Digvijaya Singh was referring to this very all-party meet when he claimed that all parties except the CPM supported the division of AP.

The reality is that Naidu is squeezed between the TRS-Congress combo in Telangana and a possible Jagan-Congress tango in Seemandhra. Thats why he has been crying foul about the fixed match which the Congress has been staging with TRS and Jagan. Is this why Naidu felt compelled to gravitate towards the BJP? Is it the fear of becoming totally irrelevant in the state that is making him make these frantic moves? After all, his seats tally in the Lok Sabha has come down from 29 in the 1999 elections to just 6 now. His vote share in the meantime has declined from nearly 40% to barely 28% now. Is it this electoral desperation that is making Naidu so awkward, risking the proverbial "falling between two stools"? Naidu has a lot to think about, and maybe the fast he is undertaking will give him the time to do so. The real truth is that Naidu is looking desperate. Unable to decide where he stands. Politics pushes him towards the BJP, but that party has declared support for Telengana. What will Naidu do now? Thats the million dollar question (damn..how do I say that in Italian?!)! This article has been reproduced with permission from Prashant Pandey

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Telangana: Dear Jagan, Naidu, who are your protests fooling?

Akshaya Mishra, Oct 10, 2013 implication of the bifurcation? Either they were not being hypocrites then or they are being hypocrites now. Whatever the case, all of them know clearly that the Telangana decision has been made and there wont be a reversal. While the protests may come across as a desperate effort from political parties at unburdening the guilt, the reality lies somewhere else. Its political. All parties on protest want a strong foothold in Seemandhra and it is not possible without raking up the united Andhra Pradesh and Telangana subjects. Whoever protests the loudest fancies a chance of winning over the public sympathy, by extending control over a majority of Seemandhras 176 assembly seats. The TDPs predicament is telling indeed. It has virtually lost Telangana to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which led the separate statehood movement, and the Congress, which might gain some goodwill in the region for doing justice to the aspirations of people. The TDP is the second strongest political party in the Seemandhra region, with 54 seats from the regions 176 in the present assembly. The Congress is the biggest party with 105 seats. While the chances of the latter getting decimated in the coming elections looks inevitable, the gainer wont be the TDP. The YRS Congress, led by Jaganmohan Reddy who enjoys huge popularity in the Rayalaseema area, is likely to be the big beneficiary with erstwhile Congress supporters migrating to his party. This leaves Chandrababu Naidus party in a lose-lose situation. His repeated flip-flops over Telangana have not done his image any good. He has a lot of explaining to do to the electorate in the Seemandhra region. The YSR Congress has a similar problem in Telangana. While Jaganmohans father, former chief minister YS Rajashekhara Reddy, had a
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t appears everyone is missing the point. The protests in Andhra Pradesh are not about Telangana, but about the occupation of political space in Seemandhra. Telangana is done and dusted. All the political players who are now leading the protests know they have been party to the central governments decision to bifurcate the state.

The deliberation on the creation of the new state has been a long-drawn process and neither the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) nor the YSR Congress nor the BJP can claim to be ignorant of what was cooking all these years. The Congress case is different. We shall come to that later.

The protests reek of political hypocrisy and opportunism of the highest order. All these parties were carefully silent or diplomatic in their words when the supporters of Telangana were hitting the streets with regular frequency, shutting down the city of Hyderabad, offices, colleges and schools. Actually, most of them, barring the CPM, had supported the idea of the new state. If their feelings for united Andhra Pradesh were so intense, why didnt they come out in the open then? Why didnt they oppose the central government when it was going ahead with the consultation process? Didnt they realise the

strong support network in the region, it wont move to his sons party because of the TRS. So he has no choice but to focus on the Seemandhra region where a huge sympathy factor works for him. Despite being a new entrant in the electoral arena, YSR Congress is already a force to reckon with in Seemandhra. Jaganmohans desperation to keep this region in control is understandable. He has been chargesheeted by the CBI in several cases. He needs to have a respectable number of parliamentary seats under his belt to have a say in the formation of the government at the Centre in 2014. A favourable government would help take the pain of the CBI off him. A tally of a minimum 20 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats would put him in a safer position. Like Naidu, Jaganmohan needs to convince people that he had nothing to with the Telangana decision; hence the five-day hunger agitation. The Congress case is the most complex. In

Telangana, it expects the support of the TRS in the coming elections. However, if the latter decides to convert itself to a full-fledged political party and fight the assembly and parliamentary elections on its own, the Congress would be nowhere. The Telangana region accounts for 17 of Andhra Pradeshs 42 Lok Sabha seats. Now that the new state is on its way, the Seemandhra unit of the party will take the brunt of the public anger. Its a position hard to defend. There is every likelihood of the party splitting at some point. In that case, most of the 105 assembly members would gravitate towards the YSR Congress. In times of electoral uncertainty, Jagan is a safe bet. Unless the Congress top leadership manages to win over Jaganmohan, the party might collapse in the state and keep the 25 parliamentary seats in the region out of the partys reach. Thus the real reason behind the current protests is not Telangana; it is Seemandhra. All parties are in existential crisis in the region. It could make or mar their political future.

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Telangana political football: Why Jagan, Cong, Naidu are all guilty
No party comes out looking trustworthy on the Telangana issue.
R Jagannathan, Oct 9, 2013

uccess, they say, has many fathers. An unforgivable screw-up resulting in an offspring whose paternity is in doubt will lead to finger-pointing all around.

This sums up the all-party political dilemma over the creation of Telangana, announced by the Congress with various ifs and buts on 9 December 2009.

of a separate Telangana state." Apparently, he reconfirmed this position in another letter of December 2012 to Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. There is thus little wriggle room for him now. As for Jagan Reddy, he appears to have worded his pro-Telangana stance a bit more smartly. He wrote: Our party addressed this issue at the first plenary of held on 8-9th July 2011. As per the decision taken in that meeting, we reiterate that our party respects the sentiments of the people of Telangana." Now, respecting the sentiments of the people of Telangana can be interpreted either way. He can claim he empathised with the concerns of the people of Telangana, but redress can be done within a united Andhra Pradesh. However, matters are not so simple and the timing of the letters indicates why the parties may have taken the stand they did.

With two regional parties now rejecting paternity N Chandrababu Naidus Telugu Desam and YS Jagan Mohan Reddys YSR Congress and both going on a fast to prove their on-off fidelity to the idea of a united Andhra Pradesh, Congress trouble-maker Digvijaya Singh has been offering his own version of a DNA test to resolve the issue. Two letters released by him indicate that Naidu clearly flirted with idea of Telangana but Reddy had plausible deniability. The letters show that Chandrababu Naidu, in a missive dated as far back as 18 October 2008, had this to say: The politburo of TDP has discussed thoroughly on the conclusions arrived at by the core committee and agreed with its recommendations in favour of (the) formation

Chandrababu Naidus first letter of 2008 was written when he was hoping to make some gains in the state assembly and Lok Sabha elections six months later. He clearly did not want to write off Telangana since YS Rajasekhara Reddy (YSR, Jagans father who died in a copter crash soon after the elections in 2009) was stronger in Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh. In 2004, the Congress led by YSR came to power promising Telangana, but once in power, it just buried the issue. In 2009, when the issue surfaced again, the wily YSR did a schizophrenic act: he first promised to back the idea of Telangana and then backtracked. He could do this because the assembly
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elections in Telangana were held in the first phase, but by the time the rest of the state went to the polls he became a bitter opponent of Telangana. He won big outside Telangana and rode back to power. Aiding him was a split in the anti-Congress vote, with film star Chiranjeevi biting off a good chunk. So, even though Jagan Reddy may claim he had nothing to do with the idea of a separate Telangana, the truth is his father stoked the fires and then went back on his words in 2009 a political trick that all parties have now learned to play. The BJP has more or less stood by the idea of Telangana, but the Congress went back and forth on 9 December 2009, when Jagan Reddy was about to exit the Congress, P Chidambaram said that the process for creating the state would be started. Two weeks later, he backtracked and said due to the altered situa-

tion he would hold wide-ranging talks with all parties on the subject. It is only now that the Congress appears to have finally decided to take the plunge which forced both Jagan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu to tap into the fears outside Telangana for political gains. But dont be too sure. On past track record, the only thing clear is that politicians will play football with Telangana as long as they can. The Congress promised Telangana in 2004, did not deliver, it again promised the same in 2009, but did not deliver. Now it has promised Telangana again. Digvijaya Singh showing up Naidu and Jagan Reddy is hypocritical, because the original Tpromise was made by the Congress under YSR, not once but twice. The 10-year hiatus between promise and possible delivery is a Congress failure.

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How the Congress is trying to tide over the crisis

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Telangana woes: Why Congress

will settle for Presidents rule

The states politicians continue to mumble and jumble as they frantically try to find ways to somehow endear themselves to the protesters.
Usha Turaga Revelli, Oct 7, 2013

ho would have ever thought that the historic and sleepy town of Vizianagaram would one day become a seething cauldron, reminiscent of the Bobbili battles of the region many centuries ago, that required authorities to clamp a curfew in the town?

lice and swarm in the streets. Tear gas, rubber bullets, firing in the air nothing seems to deter the angry people. Even women vegetable sellers clashed with police, symbolically slapping their thighs, emulating a traditional battle cry in the Telugu land. Elsewhere in Kurnool in Rayalaseema, mobs broke hundreds of slabs of the betamcherla stone a stone for which the region is famous on the roads, rendering the roads impassable. But whats really pinching the pulse is the strike by the power employees, bringing power generation at Vijayawada Thermal Power Station to a complete halt, with all the seven units now dysfunctional. Power supply collapsed, plunging vast areas of the coastal districts into darkness. The strike has since intensified with contract employees joining the strike for a united state.

The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Botsa Satyanarayana definitely did not expect this. Nor did he imagine that he would become the prime target of the protesters in his home town, who went on a rampage, destroying a sizeable percentage of the business empire that belongs to him and his family members in the district. The situation got so alarming that the Congress state-in-charge Digvijaya Singh was forced to declare that Botsa would be provided with heavy security. Ironically, Botsa was at Tirupati not so long ago, beseeching Lord Venkateswara to keep the state united. Vizianagaram continues to be tense even today as the protesters defy curfew, pelt stones at po-

The state's politicians, meanwhile, continue to mumble and jumble as they frantically try to find ways to somehow endear themselves to the protesters. As fasts-unto-death are once again in vogue, it appears that political leaders, irrespective of their parties in Andhra Pradesh, believe that desperate situations call for desperate actions. YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Jagan Reddy is into the third day of his fast and Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu has embarked on a fast in Delhi. However, it is hard for people to forget the contradiction in these leaders stances, as both of them had actually declared their support to a
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separate Telangana initially, but changed tacks when the process of the state bifurcation has been set in motion. Incidentally, neither the TDP nor YSRCP have the numbers to pose any serious threat to the Telangana Bill when it is expected to be tabled in Parliament in the Winter session. The most fascinating drama, however, is in the political arena with the Congress leaders - even as they are struggling to find a foothold in the shifting sands of AP politics - eyeing the top post in the state for one last stint. As Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy finally made his defiance of the high command an open secret, Congress seniors hope that he will either quit or will be removed, and they can contend for the post. One of the indications of this plan came from a couple of ministers, such as Higher Education Minister D Manikya Vara Prasad and Union Minister Panabaka Lakshmi, who made statements saying that the CM should have stuck to the high commands diktat.

Whether they felt a sudden surge of loyalty towards the party leadership, or it is an attempt to win over the affections of the bosses for coveted rewards is something that they can only tell. Finance Minister Anam Ramnarayan Reddy emerging as a power centre in the recent weeks is a political development worth watching too. Digvijaya Singh says the Cabinet note will be sent to the State Assembly for its opinion. But with Seemandhra protests escalating to an unprecedented scale and spread, the CM fretting openly, the leaders caught between the devil and the deep sea, and the Congress state-incharge asking the CM to do something about law and order quickly, it appears the note may never have to be presented to the Assembly at all. If Vizianagaram is anything to go by, the Congress will jump at a chance to push for Presidents rule, something neither the protesters nor the peoples representatives of Seemandhra regions want.

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Telangana vs Seemandhra: Blame

Congs nonsense for the mess

The Congress partys political short-sightedness is nowhere as stark as in the way it handled Telangana. The next government will have to clear the debris
R Jagannathan, Oct 8, 2013

ou can add one more Congress-UPA mess to be cleared up by the next government: the trouble brewing between Telangana and Seemandhra, as if Maoism, terrorism and communalism aren't difficult enough to handle in this turbulent state.

am announced that preparations would begin to carve out a separate Telangana. He said: The process of forming the state of Telangana will be initiated. An appropriate resolution will be moved in the state assembly. But nothing happened. Within two weeks, Chidambaram was backpedalling furiously as the rest of Andhra Pradesh woke up wondering how they may lose out. On 23 December, he took note of the altered situationand promised to hold wide ranging consultations with all political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh. By January 2010, the obfuscation was complete. It would be charitable to say that the Congress High Command may have realised its blunder and was now trying to undo the damage in the regions outside Telangana, but that is unlikely for two reasons: first, the initial Telangana announcement of 9 December 2009 came three months after YS Rajasekhara Reddy died in a copter crash in September. By December 2009 his son Jaganmohan Reddy was demanding the CMs throne, failing which he would break away from the Congress. This was when the Congress announced its Telangana decision possibly in the hope of undercutting Jagan Reddys political base. However, the early creation of Telangana did not suit the Congress purpose either, for there was no election to reap political dividends from. The reason why Telangana is now coming up again is clearly because the Congress sees the possibility of winning in this region once the TRS, which is spearheading the Telangana agitation, merges with it. It is this miserable shortsightedness that has short-circuited any possibility of an amicable split of the state. This is
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As usual, Mr Rahul Nonsense Gandhi is missing in action. His mother has been invisible behind a political purdah except when it suits her. Mr Nonsense - the man who gatecrashed a press conference after a belated discovery of conscience - has had nothing to say about the callous way in which his party has set one group of people against another through sheer neglect and irresponsible leadership. What is absolutely clear is that the Telangana versus Seemandhra dialectic was entirely a Congress creation driven by extremely short-sighted political (mis)calculations. Let's recall how the Congress goofed up on the wonderful opportunity it had to create Telangana without losing out on the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions. It all started in 9 December 2009 when then Home Minister P Chidambar-

the reason why anger in Seemandhra is building up, resulting in economic damage and power shutdowns. The truth is the Congress screwed up badly in the absence of decisive political intervention from the top 10 Janpath and Mr Nonsense. Inaction stems from their fundamental belief that anything good must be attributed to them and anything bad must land up on someone else's plate; the hard work must be done by someone else; the political gains must accrue to them. It should have been obvious to any political novice that the creation of Telangana would create bad vibes in Seemandhra as the latter feared they had more to lose than just their capital Hyderabad. It needed astute political leadership to talk soothingly to the people of Seemandhra about how they will be helped to build a new capital and how their interests in Hyderabad would be protected. You can blame Chidambaram or Sushilkumar Shinde for the Telangana botch-up, but they would merely be the fallguys for the Gandhis. The real blame must rest with the mother-son duo which did not put its political weight behind a smooth carve-up of Andhra Pradesh by spelling out a win-win vision to both sides. It is surprising that words of sense and calm came not from 10 Janpath but Narendra Modi widely acclaimed to be a non-conciliator - when he talked of support for Telangana without sacrificing the interests of the rest of Andhra (read his full speech on his blog here). Even if you were to dismiss Modi's speech as politically correct posturing, it is certainly the right way to approach the separation. Contrast the divisive creation of Telangana with

that of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand in 2000. Not only did the state assemblies support the creation of these new states, but the fact that the BJP actually lost in Chhattisgarh in the first election after separation shows that it did not act only with political gains in mind though those calculations could not have been denied. The truth is small states can often improve governance and growth when accompanied by political stability. This is why Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Bihar are progressing and growing well, while Jharkhand is not. It is customary to credit Nitish Kumar for the growth record of Bihar after 2005, and certainly it would be right to do so. But an equally important reason for Bihars growth is the shedding of Jharkhand with which went most of the states mineral resources. Jharkhand remained focused on growth using extractive industries and easy riches attracted the wrong kind of political leaders. Bihar focused on law and order and human development since these were its best hopes. Without mineral riches, Bihar was less tempted to live off the fat of the land or what lay underneath it. The bloodless separation of Jharkhand from Bihar should be credited both to the NDA government and Lalu Prasad and this could have been a major factor in Bihars subsequent growth under Nitish Kumar and Sushil Kumar Modi. The moral is clear: when states separate, we need wise political leadership at both centre and states. This is what is missing in Delhi and Hyderabad. Time for Rahul Gandhi to step in and stop this nonsense?

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has been addressed: Reddy

In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh said that the people of Seemandhra were protesting only over various concerns that primarily centred around Hyderabad and other matters.
FP Staff, Oct 8, 2013 s Hyderabad the major bone of contention that is driving people to protest against the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh into Telangana and Seemandhra? In an exclusive interview with CNN-IBN, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh said that the people of Seemandhra were protesting only over various concerns that primarily centred around Hyderabad and other matters.

Not a single concern on Telangana

have basic problems of education, power and healthcare," he said. According to Reddy, there are several problems that need to be sorted before moving on implementing bifurcation. There are power problems that need to be sorted in Seemandhra. Irrigation projects need to be evaluated. And finally the government will have to address water-sharing issues between the two states. There are also educational institutions and industries centred around Hyderabad that's making people worry, he added. He said that despite multiple committees not a single concern of the people of Seemandhra had been addressed. Not a single concern of the state has been addressed by the government, the Chief Minister said. He also denied that it was political opportunism that drove the decision. The people of the state is much bigger than political parties and their concerns, he said.

"The people of the Seemandhra district have a lot of concerns about their future. There are basic issues like the capital. At no time in independent India has the capital been divided. We

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needs to stop playing holier than thou

The Congress-led UPA, which promised Telangana in 2004 and 2009 too, is fuelled by political-electoral calculations alone. It can hardly accuse the TDP and YSR Congress of opportunism.
FP Staff, Oct 9, 2013 ust a day after Digvijaya Singh described the hunger strikes by Jaganmohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu as "amazing" political opportunism since the duo had earlier supported the creation of a separate state, it appears that the Congress can hardly play holier than thou on the Telangana agitation that is threatening to throw the Southern states into a power blackout.

Telangana crisis: Why Congress

In a Times of India report, Dinesh Reddy is quoted as saying the CM had reprimanded him for seeking additional forces from the Centre in July, when the CWC's decision on Telangana was expected to lead to trouble in Seemandhra. The CM had been keen to stall a decision in favour of statehood for Telangana. The former DGP also said the state police had denied permission for a huge rally of striking government employees, who have now caused a serious shutdown of essential services and also power in several districts of Seemandhra, at the LB Stadium in Hyderabad on September 7. Kiran Kumar had pressured him to give permission, he said. "When Seemandhra advocates sought permission to hold a public meeting at Gachibowli in Cyberabad, we refused," Dinesh Reddy said. "But the CM was angry with me for denying permission for the meeting which was refused because it was bang in the middle of the IT corridor. But the advocates asked how could I stop them from holding the meeting when the CM had already given the green signal," he said, according to the report. Earlier, the president of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) KT Rama Rao alleged that Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy was solely resopnsible for a "government-sponsored agitation" in Seemandhra. News agency ANI quoted Rao as saying, "The Chief Minister himself is behind the APNGO movement. So, if anybody has to be blamed for the power crisis in the state today, it is none but
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A retired director general of police from Andhra Pradesh has said the Congress Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy -- who we know is opposed to the creation of Telangana -- had actually pressured him to issue a public statement that the creation of Telangana would lead to intensification of Maoist activities. The retired DGP Dinesh Reddy's comments came close on the heels of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti's allegations that some of the violence in the Seemandhra region in the past five days was actually created by the chief minister himself.

the Chief Minister himself; he is the main culprit." From the flip flops by Jaganmohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu on the issue of a separate state of Telangana to reports that Congress MPs were themselves responsible for some of the agitators on the streets of Seemandhra, it's increasingly apparent that nobody's hands are clean on the creation of India's 29th state. The YSR Congress, whose leader Jaganmohan Reddy is in his fifth day of fasting in Hyderabad in opposition to the creation of Telangana, had on 28 December 2012, written to Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde expressing support for Telangana but said the government should ensure no injustice is done to anyone. The other fasting leader, N Chandrababu Naidu had also written in October 2008 to the government expressing his partys support to the formation of a separate Telangana state. The Politburo of the Telegu Desam Party has discussed thoroughly on the conclusions arrived at by the Core Committee and agreed with its recommendations in favour of formation of a separate Telangana State, the letter had said.

Not one to be left out, the BJP has added its own two bits to the muddle surrounding the worsening agitation in Seemandhra -- they have accused the Congress of playing opportunistic politics. Here, the Congress failed to take their own party into confidence. Their own Chief Minister is a rebel now. Their own Ministers are resigning. This shows utter opportunistic politics Congress does just with the eyes on elections and no commitment for the cause, said BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar according to a report in DNA. Doubtless, the Congress-led UPA government, whose hands have been sullied by political opportunism on Telangana even in the 2004 and 2009 elections, has made the decision based on political-electoral calculations without much thought to the valid concerns of the people of Seemandhra. That party is now accusing the TDP and the YSR Congress of opportunism. The party is also refusing to pay heed to the protests of its own CM in Andhra, who in turn has been accused by the TRS, a UPA ally, of actually engineering trouble in the state. Amid the muddle, only one thing is clear -- no party here can be trusted to take a stand that's purely in favour of the people of the state.

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Escape velocity? Rahul Gandhi may

also contest Medak in Telangana

The first family of the Congress has long been making forays in the south, in Indiras Medak and Sonias Bellary. The southern states have bailed out the party from total rout in the past.
Sanjay Singh Oct 10, 2013

fter preaching about escape velocity to Dalits, Rahul Gandhi may well be practising it himself, in hard core political terms. Just like the BJP is contemplating the prospect of Narendra Modi contesting from Lucknow or Benaras, the prospect of the Congress vice president contesting from the Medak parliamentary constituency in prospective Telangana state as his second option is being considered.

Medak has a huge emotional connect with the Gandhi-Nehru family. When Indira Gandhi returned to power with a thumping majority after the post-Emergency Janata experiment failed, she had chosen to contest from two constituencies, her old Rae Bareilly in UP and Medak in Andhra Pradesh. She won hands down from both the constituencies. As Katherine Frank writes in her book `Indira, The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi, that reluctantly Indira decided to resign from Rae Bareilly, allowing Sanjay who was elected from the neighbouring constituency Amethi to look after Uttar Pradesh. Indira handpicked a young family member, named Arun Nehru a successful businessman and precocious political manipulator to take over Rae Bareilly. Indira Gandhi represented Medak constituency from 1980 till 1984, when she was assassinated. The present Medak MP, actress turned politician Vijay Shanti, is from the TRS but has virtually moved to the Congress.

Sources clarified that the final decision would depend on how things shape up, mainly the UPA government's ability to actually deliver the promised bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and settle issues on the ground, which is getting far more complicated by the day, before it goes to polls in April-May 2014. Second, of course, is whether or not Rahul takes that southern plunge. But an early idea is certainly there. He is, however, not relinquishing Amethi. Like what his grandmother Indira Gandhi did in 1980, Rahul too could contest from two seats, Amethi and Medak.

The possibility of Rahul Gandhi shifting his constituency, or opting for a second constituency other than Amethi for the next elections, was first talked about by YSR Congress leader Dr M V Mysoora Reddy while he attributed motives to Sonia Gandhi for deciding on bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. A senior TDP leader also spoke on similar lines. Though the Congress has been conspicuously silent on that, a party leader said it was a very good idea and was likely to be worked upon, if everything goes right. It will fortify the party's presence in Telangana. History shows that whenever Congress was
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faced with a near rout in the north, South India kept it afloat. The Congress first family has been making forays in South India. Besides representing Medak, Indira Gandhi fought a byelection from Chikmagalur and Sonia Gandhi contested from Bellary, both in Karnataka and both won. No wonder that all senior Congress leaders, importantly including general secretary in-charge of Andhra Pradesh, Digvijay Singh are maintaining the partys and governments decision to create Telangana is irrevocable. The timing of Congress decision to go ahead with creation of Telangana and the manner in which it was being done is clearly angled for political gains. The ruling party would otherwise have faced complete rout in a state that sends 42 MPs to Lok Sabha. But then political parties are in business of politics and the Grand Old Party has been at for the last 128 years. The Congress may be facing a complete wipeout in 25 seats of Seemandhra region but it is expected to make a tremendous show in the 17 seats of Telangana. The commitment to create a separate Telangana has generated massive goodwill for the Congress in the region, so much so that Telangana Rashtra Samiti could virtually be robbed of its plank. Sources said the Congress is insisting to TRS to merge unconditionally with it. The Congress is also not showing any undue haste in pressing the matter. There are counter moves too. YSR Congress chief YS Vijayamma (Jaganmohan Reddy's mother) met BJP president Rajnath Singh and sought his party's support for her partys United

Andhra stance. During the meeting that lasted about 20 minutes, Vijayamma, who was accompanied by other party leaders, handed over a memorandum to Rajnath Singh on the bifurcation issue. While the meeting was restricted to this particular issue, it assumes significance from the fact that Jagan Mohan had few days back praised Narendra Modis as an administrator, indicating he was not closed to any future, post-poll alliance. TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu had earlier met Singh and had set off multiple speculations. In his Rampur rally in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday Rahul, who so far had played a reluctant prince, indicated that he could now be willing to take up the challenge that Congress had for so long desperately wanting him to take. Next government in 2014 will be a government of youth, he said. It could be interpreted variously but the Congress men want to believe that Rahul is finally showing his appetite to take on Narendra Modi. The people may be protesting on streets of Seemandhra to fight for a cause they believe is right and many more be facing multiple hardships but some cold political calculations are being made in Delhi. The Congress may be delaying the bifurcation process a bit for two reasons, make the agitators burn out with fatigue and second, the state assembly taking an unpredictable turn with Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy not making it any easy. The Congress leadership wants to time it such a manner that it comes to parliament only in the last session, the vote-on-account session in Feb-March 2014, not in the winter session of 2013.

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Its all about the money

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Hyderabad: Why Telangana-Seemandhra are fighting

The fact is that Hyderabad is the real bone of contention between Seemandhra and Telangana. Seemanadhra is on fire because the residents of that new state fear for their economic viability once the hub of economic activity, Hyderabad (located in the heart of Telangana), is lost.
Dhiraj Nayyar Oct 8, 2013 ust over one year ago, in June 2012, Hyderabad was rated by the World Bank (in its highly regarded Doing Business Rankings) as the second best city in India to do business in. It ranked way ahead of the other metros; New Delhi (6), Mumbai (10), Bengaluru (13), Chennai (15) and Kolkata (17). Now, the economic powerhouse of Andhra Pradesh it alone contributes a third of the states tax revenues is likely to fall several notches in any ranking after the near anarchy, engineered by an opportunistic Congress, that has gripped disunited Andhra over the last two months.

The fact is that Hyderabad is the real bone of contention between Seemandhra and Telangana. Seemanadhra is on fire because the residents of that new state fear for their economic viability once the hub of economic activity, Hyderabad (located in the heart of Telangana), is lost. Vijayawada and Vizag (the obvious candidates for capital of Seemandhra) are not in the big league of Indian cities. The danger of course is that if uncertainty and violence dont go away, the powerhouse may be reduced to an also-ran. Hyderabad may become Kolkata. In the event, India, Hyderabad, TelanCopyright 2012 Firstpost

gana and Seemandhra will all be worse off. But that is the high price the Congress party seems willing to pay for just 17 Lok Sabha seats. The warnings signs for Hyderabad were on the wall in December 2009 when then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram surprised a lot of people by committing the Union Government to the formation of a separate Telangana. The uncertainty extracted an economic price long before the recent agitations. An article in Outlook Business magazine in July 2011 listed the big ticket investments that the capital and the state had missed out on because of the uncertainty over Telangana. According to the report, Volkswagen moved a planned Rs 3,800 crore manufacturing plant from the state to Chakan in Maharashtra. Hindu Foundries moved a Rs 150 crore castings project to Tamil Nadu fearing uncertainty. Even local Andhra businesses were spooked. The infrastructure major GMR was already based in Bangalore but Lanco, another Hyderabad-born company, moved its headquarters to Gurgaon. Of course, the larger number of businesses that

existed in Hyderabad have chosen to stay on despite the problems. After all, until last year the city was still a great place to do business. The city is still a hub for IT 99 percent of the states exports of IT and IT services are from Hyderabad. It is still a base for other knowledge industries like pharmaceuticals. But the prospect of strikes, power blackouts and political violence may eventually force businesses to explore back up options. Knowledge-industries, largely dependent on human resources rather than huge physical assets like factories, can be much more mobile than others. In certain other sectors, like real estate, investors (particularly those from Seemandhra) may exit for fear of reprisals, or policy discrimination, from the parochial Telanagana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS) which will likely form a government after the next election. Hyderabad faces the real prospect of capital flight. That is a terrifying prospect for the city as it will lose investments, jobs and consumption expenditure to rival cities and states. The bitter fight over the proverbial golden goose may end up killing an engine of prosperity for Telanagana, Seemandhra and India.

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Whats holding up Telangana:

MPs business interests

MPs cutting across party lines have business interests and multi-crore contracts in the Telangana region, which could be lost if a separate state is formed.
Raman Kirpal Oct 8, 2013 worth crores if a separate state of Telangana is formed. Here is who controls some of these projects:

stensibly, the politicians agitating for a united Andhra Pradesh are battling for their people's right to a fair share of resources. In reality, unknown to the people rallying behind their leaders' call for strikes, blockages and picketing, senior leaders are actually battling to save their respective business interests in Telangana, in the garb of a 'people's protest for a united Andhra Pradesh.

YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who has taken the high moral ground on the issue and is leading the united Andhra front by sitting on indefinite fast, had allegedly influenced his father to allot SEZ land and various irrigation projects in Telangana region to a few companies. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in an investigation running into thousands of pages, cites the case of Ramky Infrastructures Ltd. Ayodhya Rami Reddy, the promoter of Ramky Group, invested Rs 10 crore in Jagans company Jagati Publications Pvt Ltd. In an alleged quid pro quo, Ramky got SEZ land at Visakhapatnam "along with various irrigation projects, according to the CBI. Ayodhya Rami Reddy is the brother of TDP MP Modugula Venugopala Reddy, who also has stakes in Ramky. Modugula Venugopala Reddy escaped criminal charges because he relinquished all posts just before he became MP and made Ayodhya Rami Reddy the promoter of Ramky. CBI has booked Ayodhya Rami Reddy along with Jagan Mohan Reddy in this case. Official documents available with Firstpost reveal that Modugulas Ramky has two major irrigation projects in Telangana. One PranahitaChevella Sujala Sravanthi project is worth Rs 229 crore located in Adilabad district. Ramky, in a joint venture, was also allotted Jyotiraopule Dummudgudem-Nagarjuna Sagar project worth Rs 2536 crore in the Telangana region.

For the Congress at the Centre, the Cabinet decision on statehood for Telangana is a carefully calculated one -- 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, likely to be won y the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), will add to the Congress tally. In Seemandhra, which comprises Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra, leaders including sitting Congress MPs are outdoing one another staging protests to keep the status quo in Seemandhra, which sends 25 MPs to Parliament. But look beyond the surface and you'll find that what's actually at stake is a series of multicrore projects controlled by a small power elite. The projects, mostly for the backward Telangana region, could be lost along with contracts

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Interestingly, Union Textile Minister and Congress MP Kavuru Sambasiva Raos Progressive Constructions is part of Modugulas Rs 2536 crore joint venture project in Telangana. Kavuru Sambasiva Rao was among those Seemandhra politicians who offered their resignations after the Cabinet okayed the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. Seemandhra MP Modugula (Narasaraopet constituency) is also protesting against creation of Telangana. Official documents disclose that most of the Seemandhra MPs protesting against creation of Telangana have business interests. Details of their projects in Telangana and status are as follows: Filmmaker and Congress MP T Subbirami Reddy runs Gayatri Group through his wife T Indira Subbarami Reddy. He has three projects worth Rs 2413 crore in Telangana: Jyotiraopule Dummudgudem-Nagarjuna Sagar Sujala Sravanthi Package No 8 worth Rs 1360.26 crore awarded to Gayatri-Ratna on 19 February 2009 for a deadline of three-years (18 August 2013). The contractors have spent Rs 60.94 crore (6.60 per cent of the total project money). No physical work has started as yet. Land acquisition is said to be a bottleneck. Jyotiraopule Dummudgudem-Nagarjuna Sagar Sujala Sravanthi Package No 9 worth Rs 771.36 crore awarded to Gayatri-Ratna on 19 February 2009 with a deadline expiring on 18 August 2013. The contractors have spent Rs 34.56 crore spent so far (4.48 per cent). No work has started. Land acquisition is a bottleneck. Rajiv Sagar Dummugudem Lift Irrigation Scheme Package No 33 worth Rs 281.61 crore awarded to Jaiprakash-Gayatri on 27 June 2007. Deadline was 26 February 2012. The Gayatri-led joint venture has availed 100 per cent money (rather surplus amount of Rs 302.95 crore including escalation). Reasons for delay are forest proposals for land acquisition. Congress MP Komtaireddy Rajagopal Reddys family company is Sushee Group, with his wife K Laxmi Reddy as director. Sushee has three projects worth Rs 2618 crore in Telangana: Rs 1675.25 worth Pranahita Chevella Link

Project. Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi Package No. 4 worth Rs 229.14 crore awarded to MaytasNCC-Sushee Hitech-Prasad on 6 June 2008 with a deadline on 5 December 2010. Rs 87.47 crore (38.17%) spent so far. Land acquisition and sand requirement are the bottlenecks. It is still under investigation stage. Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi Package No 27 worth Rs 714 crore awarded to SusheeZVS-Flowmore. Money spent is Rs 62.53 crore (8.75%). Bottlenecks are land acquisition, forest clearance and railway and highway crossings. Investigations have been completed and a little work is done on the approach channel. Five-term Congress MP Rayapati Sambasiva Raos Transtroy India has Rs 1364 crore worth of irrigation projects in Telangana: Komarambheem Project (Package No 18) worth Rs 220 crore was awarded to a joint venture between Navyuga and Transstroy. Work is in progress. Pranahitha-Chevella Link Project (Package No 25) worth Rs 1144.13 crore. Work is stuck due to land acquisition problem. Mobilisation fund (advance money) of Rs 11.44 crore was availed. Another TDP MP Nama Nageswara Raos Madhucon Projects has three irrigation projects worth Rs 1448 crore in Telangana region: Flood Flow canal from SRSP, Karimnagar Package No C1-17 worth Rs 200.90 crore awarded to Madhucon-Sino Hydro on 19 March 2005 with deadline 30 September 2007. Deadline was revised four times before the work was completed for Rs 205.88 crore including escalation price. Mahatma Gandhi-Kalwakurthy LI Scheme Package C1-29 awarded to Madhucon-Sinohydro for Rs 546.30 crore on 19 March 2005 with a 2-year deadline. 38 per cent money (Rs 208 crore) spent. Land acquisition is delayed due to non-availability of surveyors. Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi Package No 18 worth Rs 700.75 crore awarded on 25 February 2009, with deadline on 24 February 2013. Rs 22.11 crore (3.15 per cent) has been spent so far. Alignment investigation for canal and tunnel is under process. Land requisition is a bottleneck. According to the State government, the men and machinery required for linCopyright 2012 Firstpost

ing is insufficient. Hence the lining work is very slow. Plus Madhucon has failed to submit 17 design reports of the structures to be taken up. TDP MP CM Ramesh, a confidante of Chandrababu Naidu, was the founder chairman of Rithwik Projects Pvt Ltd, now managed by his son C M Rajesh. He got three projects worth Rs 4200 crore in Telangana region: L Distributory J Chokka Rao Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme: worth Rs 61.61 crore awarded to Rithwik Projects and UNAMAX Infra on 18 August 2010. Deadline was 2 years. 45 per cent of the project money (Rs 27.80 crore is spent. Work is in progress. Rs 2536.32 crore worth Package 7 - Dummugudem- NSP Tail Pond Link Canal on NH-9

to carry 39000 cusecs of water. Work is in progress Rs 1706 crore worth Package-6 - Dummugudem - Nagarjuna Sagar Tail pond Link Canal. Work is in progress. What will happen when a state of Telangana is formed and a new government takes charge? While the fate of already awarded projects remains to be seen, it is widely expected that the people of Telangana, nursing years of anger at the dominance of Seemandhra in jobs and other government sectors, will want to root out Seemandhra politicians business interests from the Telangana region. And therein lies the root of the ongoing turmoil.

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