Game up for Congress,TDP -Srikrishna Panel Tells Parties To Spell Out Their Telangana Stance

Hyderabad: The game may be up for the Congress,TDP and MIM on the Telangana issue following Justice B N Srikrishnas assertion earlier in the day in New Delhi that all eight political parties should nominate representatives to spell out their official stances on the contentious issue. After a full meeting in the national capital on Thursday,the chairman of the committee constituted to look into the political situation in Andhra Pradesh following the separate state agitation,said: We have sought the opinion of eight recognised political parties in the state.Every party should officially nominate a person who will spell out the official stand of that party on the division of the state. Till now,the Congress and TDP were planning to have leaders from both the regions depose before the committee and submit their respective views and leave it to the panel to make its conclusions.Many are of the view that this will force the Congress,which has been evasive on the Telangana issue for the past six years apart from harping on the second States Reorganisation Commission (SRC),and TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu,who has clammed up on the separate state issue since December 9 last year,to come clean with their stances, said a TRS leader.

PCC president D Srinivas said although the Srikrishna committee has written a letter to me,I will leave it to the Congress high command to spell out the partys stand on the issue.The TDP leaders from both the regions too held a meeting on Thursday evening to discuss what should be the official stance of the party. While TRS,BJP and CPI are clearly for the creation of Telangana,PRP and CPM are for united Andhra.The Congress,TDP and MIM are the only three parties who have not spelt out their stances till now.While the ruling party and TDP have been hunting with the hound and running with the hare,the MIM has maintained a stoic silence on the issue so far. But many are of the opinion that these three parties will still get away without being cornered.The Congress will officially take a stance that in principle,it has no opposition to creation of Telangana provided there is an overwhelming consensus. It will then be left to the committee to draw its conclusions, said a party leader.The state unit of the party is slated to hold a brainstorming session on the stance it has to take the coming Sunday. The TDP too is planning to tell the committee that there is a vertical split on the T issue within the party and that both the groups will give their views to the panel.It is the committee that should make the final call on whether the state should be divided or not, said a TDP leader. But for now,there is a sense of uneasiness in the two major parties.While the state unit of the Congress is hoping that the high command will take the stand,the TDP is still to work out its strategy.
---------------------------------------------------------
TRS takes U-turn,to depose before Srikrishna panel


The TRS which has been opposing the Srikrishna committee decided on Thursday to appear before it and submit its views,documents and videos,etc,explaining why it is fighting for the Telangana statehood.
According to a senior TRS leader,KCR has asked state and district party leaders to prepare reports on the development in their areas and budgetary allocations made by the successive governments since 1956.Statistics on employment,water allocation for irrigation purposes and the details of livelihood source of the people in the region have already been gathered,according to him.Information gathered from districts will be compiled into a comprehensive report, he said. He said the video would be of one hour duration and would contain UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhis statement on Telangana during the election campaign in 2004 and 2009 polls,Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs comments in Parliament and President Abdul Kalams statement that the statehood issue was being considered by the Centre as was enshrined in the common minimum programme (CMP) besides the statements of other leaders on the issue.Other issues like backwardness of the region and the details of students who committed suicides would also be included in it.

KCR is of the opinion that TRS ideologue professor K Jayashankar and irrigation expert A Vidyasagar Rao would be the right persons to make strong arguments before the committee.Jayashankar told TOI that he was preparing a 50-page report explaining necessity of formation of Telangana state.Meanwhile, Telangana JAC convener M Kodandaram demanded that all political parties make their stand clear on Telangana before the committee. Addressing a press conference here,he said political parties should attend the meeting and express their views without fail. He said that the political party leaders should also make public the views they express on the contentious statehood issue before the committee.This will expose the double standards of some of the leaders, Kodandaram said.
---------------------------------------------------
T-effect : Stress level peaks in OU

Students of Osmania University are struggling,and this time not with the lathi-charging police but with their own disturbed minds.With the campus turning into a T bastion,the average OU student has ended up as a nervous wreck.With the Telangana struggle on campus completing three months,many students are queuing up for psychological counselling sessions. Students are undergoing post-traumatic stress leading to insomnia (sleeplessness),behavioural changes and even suicidal tendency.And recording this disturbing trend on campus is 15-day-old Sahayam,a counselling centre started by psychology depart-ment of the university. Counsellors at Sahayam say that students are approaching them with varying problems,all related to the T agitation.In a recent case,a IInd year student of Geophysics department of OU had to be taken to a psychiatrist for treatment as he was troubled by the tension on campus.

The police presence on campus,exams getting postponed repeatedly and suicide attempts on the university premises are factors causing depression. Take for instance a PG student who sought psychiatric treatment as he was disturbed by T suicides.The student complained that he had trouble sleeping after he saw images of self-immolation on television.Adding to this trauma was his own worry about getting a job after completion of the course.
--------------------------------------------
(source-toi)