FOR CONGRESS, THERE MAY BE NO GOING BACK ON TELANGANA

After two weeks of intense opposition to division of Andhra Pradesh from MPs belonging to Rayalaseema-Coastal regions, there are clear indications that Congress leadership considers statehood for Telangana as irreversible. Resistance is likely to delay but not derail the process. Central peacebrokers Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram and Veerappa Moily on Tuesday held meetings with MPs favouring one Andhra amid fierce lobbying for and against Telangana. The battle of nerves heated up further when Congress MPs and MLAs from Telangana broke their silence with a counter-offensive , warning of repercussions if the party retraced its steps. While discordant voices have muddied the waters, party managers have patiently but firmly signalled that going back on creation of the new state was not on the party agenda. From Prime Minister Manmohan Singh downwards , no assurance other than a promise to consider issues raised by the non-Telangana MPs has been offered.

On Tuesday, a heightened sense of anxiety saw Rayalaseema and Coastal MPs once again press the Centre to allay apprehensions over division of the state. To pressure the leadership , the MPs stayed put in the Capital after adjournment of Lok Sabha. Party sources ruled out a U-turn but the persistent lobbying could see the Centre issue a statement stressing on the process of consultation for Telangana . This is not likely to go beyond the position spelled out by central leaders that any movement on Telangana will require a resolution by the AP assembly. Sources said home minister P Chidambarams midnight announcement , while being triggered by TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Raos fast, reflected the commitment of party chief Sonia Gandhi, who tied up with TRS and promised to move towards statehood in 2004. Telangana leaders mounted an offensive for the first time since statehood broke out as an inner-party controversy . Worried that relentless pressure from their Andhra counterparts could force the Centre into diluting the stand, they threatened to quit posts and join statehood movement. The MPs left Hyderabad for Delhi in the evening to lobby the Centre.

The Centre is persuading MPs to return to their constituencies and explain why Telangana was announced. Sources said the MPs have a strong alibi in the assurance given by TDP and PRPsince renegedin favour of bifurcation . What may also help the Centre defuse the Telangana bomb is that the bloc opposing statehood is looking increasingly fissured. Sections not too enamoured by the YSR camp voiced the demand for redistribution of political power as a means to settle the post-Telangana turbulence at a meeting with central leaders on Tuesday.

While four Dalit-OBC MPs broke ranks at a meeting earlier to favour division of the state, a senior MP is learnt to have sought rejigging of power in APCC to adjust the aspirations of marginalised workers. The grievance is that concentration of clout in one family has led to the Centre being dictated terms on critical issues .

Dont give in to Coastal blackmailers

Telangana Congress leaders are exerting pressure on the Congress not to be browbeaten by the opposition from leaders of the other two regions in the state. Reiterating that there would be no compromise on Telangana state, Congress leaders from the region, including MP Madhu Goud Yaskhi on Tuesday warned of serious consequences if the high command gave in to the blackmail by coastal leaders. Addressing the media, he said, The high command should not yield to Coastal blackmailers. The hide-n-seek by a few non-Telangana leaders is resulting in the spread of hatred and sending confusing signals across Telangana. The formation of Telangana state is the only right answer at this stage. It is for the high command to choose between blackmailers and loyal disciplined party workers. He cautioned non-Telangana MPs against putting pressure on the high command by projecting that the agitation in non-Telangana areas as more serious than that in Telangana. Replying to a query on whether there were indications from the Centre that the Telangana issue would be diluted, the MP said that the mood of the region was for a separate state and nothing less than that. In another significant development, pro-Telangana MPs have threatened the UPA government with serious ramifications in case it planned to go slow on Telangana. They reportedly wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in the wake of a serious campaign against bifurcation of the state by their counterparts in non-Telangana regions. They threatened to resign and join the movement for a separate Telangana state. The Telangana Congress MPs alleged that protests in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions were engineered by vested interests. TNN