Will Devender Goud Join BJP ??

This is just a theory that went through my mind today morning while going through the news paper.

Telugu Desam Party senior leader from Telangana Region and Number Two in the party, Mr. Devender Goud resigned from the primary membership of the party and also from his assembly segment - Medchal yesterday on the issue of separate Telangana State. While the party's strategy has always been wait and watch, this leader from Telangana Region could not able to wait more time and risk his political future and was forced to resign from TDP, a party formed on the basis of "Samaikya Andhra Pradesh" (Combined AP).

Will Goud start a new political party or join an existing one ? And, how many more leaders from TDP belonging to Telangana Region are going to join him and fight for a separate state ? These are some of the questions going through political parties. His resignation is bound to affect other political parties too. TDP was always strong in Telangana Region. With the recent shocking by-election results where in TRS lost chunk of its assembly seats, political parties started feeling that Telangana Sentiment is not there in people. But it is not the case. People have Telangana sentiment but they gave thumbs down to TRS only because of the poor performance record of their candidates. During the run up to the elections, TDP became soft for Telangana cause agreeing to the fact that "Telangana sentiment" is there but once elections are finished, they reverted back to their stated claim of a "Samaikya Andhra Pradesh".

Devender Goud is the the only notable voice raising Telangana issue in TDP - a political party ruled autocratically by Chandra Babu Naidu. The about turn in the policy after elections hurt Goud and since then he kept on giving statements on Telangana.


Now, coming back to the issue of Devender Goud joining BJP. There are already many political parties in the state and forming a new party would only give a fractured verdict in the elections paving way for horse trading during Government formation. Telangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS) is formed by K Chandra Sekhar Rao who as Devender Goud came out of TDP aspiring for separate Telangana state. Goud would not join TRS as their attitude and their policies are quite different from Goud's. He would not join Congress Party for obvious reasons as TDP is formed just to oppose Congress Party. He would not join the Communists nor Loksatta as they dont have much hold in the state.Megastar Chiranjeevi's political party is still a non-starter to join it. Moreover, Goud would be a too big leader to join in any of these parties which are centered around one person.

So, only other alternative is BJP. BJP is strong in Telangana regions and also, TDP earlier supported the BJP Central Government in New Delhi. So, BJP is not a bad choice for Devender Goud.

Anyways, we got to see whether he is contemplating on joining a political party or wants to start a new party. Time would only tell. But with Devender Goud's exit, TDP suffered a severe setback and it would affect their chances to form a future government in the state.

Shocking By-Election Results

The by-elections to 18 Andhra Pradesh State Assembly seats (MLA Seats) and 4 Loksabha seats (MP Seats)have given a shocking thumbs down to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). The by-elections are conducted after 16 TRS MLA's and 4 MP's resigned to put pressure on the Government for a separate Telangana State to be carved out of Andhra Pradesh. At two other places elections were held as the sitting MLA's died. One of them is Khairatabad in Hyderabad where I voted.

TRS could retain only 7 Assembly Seats and 2 Loksabha Seats while the Congress Party won 6 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat while the opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) which supports a united Andhra Pradesh won in as many as 5 Assembly Seats and 1 Loksabha Seat.


TRS was pushed to a corner on Telangana issue as Congress Party was not implementing what it promised in the earlier elections. Congress came to power taking help of TRS in the Telangana region thus indirectly supporting separate Telangana. As the Congress party strengthened, it started to distance itself from TRS forcing the TRS to pull out of the Government and eventually resigning to put pressure. TRS was almost synonymous with the Telangana issue. With this shocking defeat, opponents of Telangana State started asking whether the demand is valid as people are not supporting it.

Because of TRS, the separate Telangana State issue came out of the dust and forced all the political parties to take stand on the issue - either for or against the separate state. This is something good which came out of TRS. The main problem with TRS is their loose tongued leaders. From the party president down to all the levels of the party cadre are loose tongued, use filthy words and are known drunkards. Except for a couple of leaders like Harish Rao, others dont stand good in public scrutiny. This has given a very bad image of Telangana itself and people outside Telangana started thinking whether this is the culture of Telangana - using filthy words and drinking.

People from Telangana itself have understood that they have been taken for a ride by TRS and thus started opting for such parties like TDP, which are known well about their policy for a United Andhra Pradesh (Samaikya Andhra Pradesh). This has reflected in the dwindling vote share of TRS past couple of elections. I strongly believe TRS would be wiped out of the map in the general and state elections slated next year.


So, is separate Telangana State issue a closed chapter ?? I dont think so !! Even though people have opted for other parties, separate Telangana State is an issue which is something close to the hearts of people. TRS has to work hard to regain its lost glory. They have to come closer to all sections (Telanganas and Andhras who have settled in Telangana areas) of people and most importantly strive for the development of their constituencies. TRS has not got entire right on Telangana but TRS has the credit of taking the issue to the national stage. Atleast for that purpose, we need to credit TRS !!

Another factor that played in this elections is the role of new political party, Lok Satta. This was started by a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) Officer. Lok Satta was initially started as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and then transformed into a political outfit whose aim is clean politics where there is no place for corruption, nepotism and all the other ills of politics. Their aims look great but is it possible in India where political parties are spending hundreds of Millions just for the sake of a single assembly seat ? Practically Impossible !!
I voted to them because of There Is No Alternative (TINA) factor. Iam a traditional Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporter and since BJP didnt contest in Khairatabad, and since Iam a traditional anti-Congress supporter, I had no option but vote to Lok Satta.

Lok Satta played a destabilizing role in the Musheerabad Assembly constituency in Hyderabad where BJP candidate, Dr.Lakshman was pitted against a old Congress lady. BJP chances weakened as the Congress used money and muscle power as BJP stood no chance against their power. But Lakshman fought hard and was leading in many rounds of vote counting. What tilted the balance is the 5000 odd votes Lok Satta got denting traditional BJP vote bank - the educated !! End of the day, BJP lost the elections by a very low margin on 2000 odd votes.

This comes back to the point "Is there a necessity for so many political parties?". In a democracy like ours, such questions are not answered nor asked!!

BJP Surges Ahead, Congress Losing Relevance

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created history after it routed the Congress Party and the much hated Janata Dal(Secular) and form it's own Government in the state of Karnataka (South India) for the first time in its history.
The party won 111 seat out of 224 seats and thus falling short of 2 seats for a simple majority. The BJP would be taking help of the independent candidates who have won the elections.

It is a moment of triumph for the Saffron party as it won the elections on the development plank and also the negative vote JD(S) garnered. People came out in force to kick out the JD(S) and it's much hated boss and former Prime Minister, Hardanahalli Doddagowda Devegowda (HD Devegowda).
Many senior leaders lost this elections including the former chief minister of Karnataka, Bangarappa and his two sons and another former congress chief minister, Dharam Singh.


Except for South Karnataka where JD(S) fared well, BJP triumphed in the Mumbai-Karnatak region(bordering Maharashtra) and Hyderabad-Karnatak Region (bordering Andhra Pradesh).

B.S.Yeddyurappa belonging to the Lingayat Community would sworn in as the Chief Minister on 28th May 2008.

This is 16th loss for the Congress Party after it wrested power from BJP in the Center and they are making the same mistakes in every election they are contesting.

The Congress report card:

2004: Won: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra.
Lost: Karnataka, Orissa, Sikkim

2005: Won: Haryana.
Lost: Jharkhand, Bihar

2006: Won: Assam, Pondicherry: Congress retains power.
Lost: Bengal, Kerala In Tamil Nadu, the party is a minor ally of the winning DMK.

2007:: Won: Manipur, Goa
Lost: Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat

2008: Won: None
Lost: Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Karnataka

Here are list of Congress Party's failures:

Failure of Rahul Gandhi:
The Congress Party tried to project Rahul Gandhi (Rajiv & Sonia Gandhi's son) as Prime Minister in the making. But, where ever he went to campaign on behalf of Congress Party, the party is getting routed - a serious dent to the aspiring "Yuvraj".


Failure To Project Future Chief Minister:
Another area where Congress Party blundered is in naming their chief minister candidate. Since the day 1, BJP had named B.S.Yeddyurappa as their Chief Minister candidate thus nipping any infighting in the bud. Congress brought back former chief minister, S.M. Krishna from the post of Governor of Maharashtra but didnot project him as the chief minister so as not to distance the rural voters as Krishna is seen as a Urban oriented person. Other caste equations kept Congress from naming their chief minister candidate.

Sonia Gandhi did not learn any lesson from Gujarat and stubbornly refused to name a candidate to lead the party in Karnataka.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, L.K.Advani while campaigning for BJP projected this lack of a chief ministerial candidate of Congress party would pave way for BJP to form their Government and this prediction proved correct.

Failure to Recognize Regional Leaders:
Since the beginning, Congress Party has followed a rule that no regional leader can be equal to or more popular than the President of the party. Whenever they felt that one particular leader in the party is gaining popularity, the high command used to encourage another leader who is against the popular leader. So, this popular leader now has to concentrate his energies in retaining his post and that way, his popularity would wane. And so, no threat to the President of the party who is de-facto a "Gandhi". The BJP just did the opposite. L.K.Advani never felt bad in promoting regional leaders like Gujarat Chief Minister, Narendra Bhai Modi. Many a times Advani, gracefully shared stage with Modi in Gujarat where Modi is given more importance.

His one time protege draws more crowds these days than than him, but for Advani it is advantage BJP. He has handled Modi's popularity with a positive mindset. If any regional leader gains personal clout the Congress party does everything to cut him or her to size. Ask Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit.
The Congress high command failed miserably in understanding what the BJP was doing in Karnataka. The BJP's top leadership was led by state leaders' advice and not the other way round. Is this possible in the Congress party when decisions are only taken at Sonia Gandhi's home at 10, Janpath and not at 24, Akbar road or in Bangalore? I dont think so !!


Failure to Announce Candidates and Manifesto:
The BJP announced it's manifesto and the names of the contesting candidates atleast two weeks earlier than its rivals.
This gave a big boost to the candidates and they started the campaigning process earlier than other parties.
Moreover, the manifesto clearly defined the issues and the party also started the trend of releasing a separate plan for Bangalore and the rest of Karnataka. By doing so, they promised to address the problem of regional imbalance, especially in the northern part of Karnataka.

Caste Combinations:
The BJP played the caste combinations very skilfully when compared to their opponents.
The decision to field a combination of Lingayats, Vokkaligas and the Backwards Castes proved to be a successful mantra for the party.

B S Yeddyurappa was the mascot for the Lingayat community while D Sadananda Gowda, party president and R Ashok took care of the Vokkaliga votes. Eshwarappa and Katta Subramanya Naidu were given a prominent role to take care of the backward class votes.


All parties thought that the BJP would bank solely on Lingayat votes, but the party leadership decided not to tow this line and gave preference to all castes. A division of minority and Vokkaliga votes between Congress and the JD-S also helped the BJP to sail through.

Another mistake that other parties committed was to give too much emphasis to the candidature of B S Yeddyurappa. Both Congress and the JD(S) withdrew their candidates from Shikaripur to ensure that BJP's chief ministerial candidate, Yeddyurappa lost to former chief minister, Bangarappa. They felt the BJP would be defeated if Yeddyurappa lost. However, the ploy went in favour of Yeddyurappa as a section of the voters turned sympathetic to him and his party.

The map of India on the right shows the number of Congress ruled states and the number of BJP ruled states.
Looks like the tables are turning against the Congress Party as it is losing relevance in the Indian political scenario post the drubbing in Karnataka and other state assemble elections.

For the resurgent BJP, the most historic moment would be the 2009 General Elections when it would be looking forward to beat a demoralized Congress Party.

Require Good Leaders For Telangana

On Sunday, I went to a house warming ceremony of a relative here in Hyderabad and I was chitchatting with some of my relatives and naturally, the discussion moved to the issue of separate Telangana state. Most of my relatives present there have moved to Hyderabad from Andhra after their adulthood and they still have that penchant for a single state even though they sold off their lands there and settled down here for good.

Initially, I could able to justify separate Telangana to be carved our of Andhra Pradesh. But, when the topic moved towards the leaders, I became defensive and in the end had to admit defeat. Defeat not for separate state but who are the leaders who have the will and who can strive for the economic development of Telangana.

Of all the list of leaders who are in the picture right now, none of them are eligible enough to lead Telangana. If one person has started the separate movement because he was not made Deputy Chief Minister, other person is into this only to try to prove a point and get himself as "President" of India while other person is trying to become Governor of a State and the list continues. None of them are here for the development of the state. They are here only to cash in the sentiments of Telangana people.

Then I started looking at political parties on a whole. While the TRS, BJP and CPI are staunch pro-Telangana parties, Congress Party is in a "fighting mode" among its leaders while TDP and CPI(M) are completely against a separate state. TDP is saying that they will take "right decision at right time".

Then I started narrowing on each party. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was formed when its leader K. Chandra Sehkar Rao (KCR) was denied the post of Deputy Chief Minister by Chandrababu Naidu Telugu Desam Party (TDP) Government. Some opportunistic leaders from other parties jumped into TRS. TRS leader, Narendra (he has a RSS background and he jumped from BJP into TRS) started a militant wing thus scaring people on region wise. KCR distanced himself from this as he saw some hidden Hindu agenda and he is not ready to sacrifice important Muslim votes as almost 30% of Telangana is Muslim. Narendra broke away from this party and started a separate party. Latest update is that he is trying backhand to make a comeback to his parent party, the BJP. People consider TRS as more militant and violent since its inception. TRS leaders are said to be open boozers which doesnt give a good name to the party.

BJP is the first national party which supported separate Telangana in their National Executive Meeting held at Kakinada (Coastal Andhra Pradesh) couple of years back. All their leaders are unanimous on the separation and they did their ground work really well. Their problem is they have only one legislature representing them in the 292 strong AP Assembly and they need to work hard in that direction. This party looks to have a better opportunity than other parties. Their parent, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) is pretty strong in Telangana. If they want to push Telangana, then they need to start conducting meetings and awareness campaigns to keep the momentum till the assembly elections slated next year.

The Communist Party of India (CPI) is only strong in couple of pockets in Andhra Pradesh and it cannot play a very important role in pushing for Telangana.

The less said about Congress Party is the better. Recently, Telangana political heavy weights went to New Delhi for an audience with Sonia Gandhi (Congress Party President). She kept them waiting for a whole week inspite of the fact that some of the leaders worked with Congress since the days of Nehru and Indira Gandhi. They had to come back to Hyderabad fuming (??). After lot of pestering, she allowed them audience last week and reports said that she gave a class to them and told them to stop bickering and talking about Telangana as it would give a negative impact on the prospects of Congress in the next elections. These so called leaders have now started fighting among themselves.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo, Nara Chandrababu Naidu rules it with an iron hand and doesnot let anyone to be second in command. There is no second rung leadership in the party and he never allowed dissidence in the party. While he balks about Democracy outside, he never let it happen inside his own party. Devender Goud, the TDP leader from Telangana had recently started to talk about Telangana. He is one of the most senior leaders of TDP. He was severely criticized by leaders from Andhra and Raayalaseema regions and even Naidu took a class of him. Internal democracy is completely put down in TDP and one day, it would only explode.

The Communist Party of India (Marxists) are against smaller states. They worry that if they support small states, someday, they have to give away Gorkhaland - part of West Bengal state which is ruled by the communists with an iron hand past couple of decades. They are not ready to give away their strong hold.

Before we expect a separate state, we need a good Leader to Lead us. The leader has to come out with a plan of action after achieving Telangana. Achieving Telangana is not a difficult task. What lay ahead is how to make sure it survives and beat the critics claims that separate Telaganites would eat rocks from the Deccan Plateau.

Till then, asking for Telangana (leave alone demanding) looks to be like shooting ourselves in the foot.

Second SRC ?? No Way !!

With the recent media reports, looks like the wily politicians are really not interested in the feelings and aspirations of 40 Million people from the region of Telangana.

The ruling Congress Party made a deal with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (Party established solely to fight for a separate Telangana State) regarding the formation of Telangana State. While politicians from Congress Party say the deal states that Telangana would be formed only after the recommendations of Second State Reorganization Commission (SRC) while the politicians from TRS say that the deal states Telangana would be formed before the next state assemble elections, slated in 2009. But, till now none of the parties have made the copies of the deal public. Deal or No Deal, politicians are fooling people.

The people of Telangana are taken for a ride by the Congress and TRS parties. It is to be noted that TRS is the only party which has brought the issue of separate Telangana out into the public domain after a gap of 30 full years but oflate, the leaders of the party are not keeping up their words. If they want to show their real commitment for Telangana, all the MLA' and MP's from TRS should resign their positions immediately to show unity and also to exert pressure on the Central Government.

At the same time, all the other parties which have committed for a separate state, like the BJP and CPI have to do the same. The main opposition party, TDP is still in a make belief world of their own thinking that the separate Telangana movement would fizzle out as happened 30 years back. But this time, the sentiments of the people are high. Leaders have to understand the sentiments of the people and act accordingly. Ignoring the sentiments would only help the extremists.

It has to be noted that when Potti Sriramulu died during a hunger strike in Chennai for the formation of a separate Andhra State, he did that only to enable Telugu speaking areas of Madras State to be carved out to form Andhra State. Later, Hyderabad State was merged with Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh. This was done against the wishes and aspirations of the people of Telangana as they are culturally different from Andhras. Even the first SRC mentions that Hyderabad State has to be separate but the politicians from Andhra who are dreaming of a Visalandhra forced the decisions.

It is time for the parties to think broadly and take a decision before they commit for second SRC. This time round, the people of Telangana are not going to sit idle as they lost full faith in the promises of the politicians !! They are demanding for Telangana - NOW !

Telangana - Now Is The Right Time

Looking at the sudden increase in the interest of the political parties, I was wondering when are we going to get a separate Telangana State carved out of Andhra Pradesh State, which is as big as England.
I kept wondering the reason for a state as big as England and all the three parts (Andhra, Raayalaseema and Telangana) claiming to be backward.
We have stayed together almost 60 years and all the three parts of the state are poor. So, what is the need to be together when everyone is not happy.
Best way is to separate - peacefully.

Why are the politicians from the other parts of the state not ready for a split ?? They are afraid that their area of importance is going to decrease and their bargaining power would take a beating with the central government regarding the Central Government funds.

Some Facts regarding Telangana:


The area of Telengana is 1,14,800 Sq Kms.
Telangana represents 42% of the total area of the state and is home to 40% of its total population.

Telangana comprises 10 districts of AP:
Adilabad
Hyderabad
Karimnagar
Khammam
Medak
Mehboobnagar
Nalgonda
Nizamabad
Ranga Reddy
Warangal

History of Telangana:

Telangana region has been ruled by many great dynasties like Sathavahanas, Chalukyas, Kakatiyas, Mughals, and the Qutubshahis. As the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate in the early 18th century, the Muslim Asafjahi dynasty established a separate state known as Hyderabad. Later Hyderabad entered into a treaty of subsidiary alliance with the British Empire, and was the largest and most populous princely state in India. Telangana never under direct British rule, unlike Coastal Andhra and Raayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh, which were part of British India's Madras Presidency.

Andhra Pradesh consists of three distinct regions, namely, Andhra, Raayalaseema and Telangana. Andhra and Raayalaseema were part of Madras province of the British empire. For approximately 400 years, Telangana was part of Hyderabad State, an independent kingdom ruled by Muslim Qutub Shahi and Asafjahi (Nizam) dynasties.

Hyderabad state has parts of Karnataka and Maharashtra in it - until they are merged with those states.
Remaining part of Hyderabad state is merged with Andhra State, thus forming Andhra Pradesh in 1956.
The slang of Telugu spoken in Telangana is very different from the rest of the state.
Telangana Telugu is a mixture of Telugu and Urdu.
The culture and traditions of Telangana are quite different from that of the rest of the state.

The Nizam was the world's wealthiest person during the time of independence.
Lot of Hindus are forcefully converted into Islam with a sword at their neck and Urdu was made official language.
During the time of Independence from British, thousands of Hindus were massacred by their Muslim rulers, thus forcing the Indian Army to perform a "Police Action" on the Nizam forces and liberate Hyderabad.

Merger of Andhra and Telangana Regions:

The States Reorganization Commission (SRC) set up by the government of India in early 50s to examine the question of reorganization of states of the country was, in fact, not in favour of merging the Telangana region with the then Andhra state. Para 382 of States Reorganization Commission (SRC) said "..opinion in Andhra is overwhelmingly in favour of the larger unit, public opinion in Telangana has still to crystallize itself". The concerns of Telanganas were manifold. The region had a less developed economy than Andhra, but a larger revenue base (mostly because it taxed rather than prohibited alcoholic beverages), which Telanganas feared might be diverted for use in Andhra. They also feared that planned dam projects on the Krishna and Godavari rivers would not benefit Telangana proportionately even though Telanganas controlled the headwaters of the rivers. Telanganas feared too that the people of Andhra would have the advantage in jobs, particularly in government and education. Para 386 of States Reorganization Commission (SRC) said "After taking all these factors into consideration we have come to the conclusions that it will be in the interests of Andhra as well as Telangana area is to constitute into a separate State, which may be known as the Hyderabad State with provision for its unification with Andhra after the general elections likely to be held in or about 1961 if by a two thirds majority the legislature of the residency Hyderabad State expresses itself in favor of such unification."

The central government decided to ignore the SRC recommendations and established unified Andhra Pradesh on November 1, 1956. However, a "Gentlemen's agreement" provided reassurances to the Telangana people.

Grudges of Telanganas:

* Telangana is less developed compared to Andhra.
* Rivers like Krishna and Godavari flow through Telangana, but the water from the dams are sent to Andhra.
* Because of less literacy and backwardness of Telangana people, most of the new jobs, postings in government and education are given to people from Andhra.
* Except for common language, the people of Andhra and Telangana have different dialects, histories, cultural systems, different food habits


Separate Telangana Movement:

In the following years after the formation of Andhra Pradesh state, however, the Telangana people had a number of complaints about how the agreements and guarantees were implemented. Discontent with the 1956 Gentlemen's agreement intensified in January 1969 when the guarantees that had been agreed on were supposed to lapse. Student agitation for the continuation of the agreement began at Osmania University in Hyderabad and spread to other parts of the region. Government employees and opposition members of the state legislative assembly swiftly threatened "direct action" in support of the students. This movement also know as Jai Telangana movement led to widespread violence and deaths of hundreds of people and students of this Telangana region. Approx. 360 students gave their lives in this movement.

Although the Congress faced dissension within its ranks, its leadership stood against additional linguistic states, which were regarded as "anti-national." As a result, defectors from the Congress, led by M.Chenna Reddy, founded the Telangana People's Association (Telangana Praja Samithi). Despite electoral successes, however, some of the new party leaders gave up their agitation in September 1971 and, much to the disgust of many separatists, rejoined the safer political haven of the Congress ranks.

The emotions and forces generated by the movement were not strong enough, however, for a continuing drive for a separate state until 1990s when Bharatiya Janata Party, promised separate Telangana state if they come to power. But BJP could not create separate Telangana state because of the opposition from its coalition partner, Telugu Desam Party. These developments brought new life into separate Telangana movement by year 2000. Congress party MLA's from Telangana region, supported the separate Telangana state and formed a Telangana Congress Legislators Forum. In another development, a new party called Telangana Rashtra Samithi (or TRS) is formed with single agenda of separate Telangana state, with Hyderabad as its capital.


Present Talk of SRC:

Most of the political parties are now pitching for a separate state but in different ways.
While the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Communist Party of India want outright separate state, other parties like the governing Congress Party wants a State Reorganization Commission (SRC) to be established by the Central Government and then decide on the future of Telangana.
The opposition Telugu Desam Party is not ready for Telangana and they say that they will take a decision at "right time".
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) are also against Telangana for their own reasons.

It is high time politicians respect the aspirations of the people of Telangana. The demand of Telangana was made in 1952 but was considered not feasible and then shelved. In the late 60's, a huge political agitation took place but it was successfully put down by the state government.

Even though the agitation started off with economic problems in the background, now it has become more sentimental in nature.

It would be of everyone's good if we separate peacefully !!

Role Of Andhras in Hyderabad:

The people who are most worried with the formation of Telangana are the Andhras who have migrated to Hyderabad City after it is made capital of Andhra Pradesh.
Taking advantage of the Capital City, they established industries, started educational institutions and were imposing their style of language.
One way, they paved for the development of the city and the other way, they are trying to enforce their traditions on the region.
People who have migrated from Andhra and settled in Telangana are called as "Mulkis".

Benefits Due To Separation:

* Right now the coal is mined and electricity is produced in Telangana but most of it is supplied to Andhra region, while districts of Medak and Adilabad have four hours of electricity during the day during summer. In the new state, these districts will be fed with electricity.
* The rivers of Krishna and Godavari flow through Telangana, and the dams are in Telangana, but the canals carrying the water go to Andhra. In the new state, there would be new canals bringing water to the arid regions of Telangana bringing in prosperity to the farmers and local population.
* Most of the jobs, in government and education, are filled up by people from Andhra. In the new state, these jobs will go the local population.

With the above benefits in mind, it is for the welfare of the country that a separate Telangana state is formed - NOW !

Development or Ideology

This was the dilemma that Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat had before he kick started his election campaign.

He was running for the office of Chief Minister for a record third time heading 55 Million Gujaratis. All his meetings, he was showcasing "Vibrant Gujarat" with all the developmental works he had done past 5 years.

He was elected with a record of 117 Members of Legislative Assemble (MLA's) out of a total of 182 seats. The Congress Party and its allies were halted at 62 seats.

Even though BJP lost 9 seats to its previous tally of 126 MLA's, the margin hardly mattered as the Congress was in a hopeless situation. While the BJP was celebrating, the leaders of Congress Party switched off the cell phones, shying away from the media.

This is another debacle (after been routed in Uttar Pradesh by Mayavati's BSP) for Congress Party and in particular to it's President, Sonia Gandhi as she tried once again to project her son, Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Minister -in-waiting.

Some of the achievements of Narendra Modi are:


* Value of farm output has grown four times during his reign.
* School drop-out rate was down to 3% from over 40%.
* All villages, without exception, were getting 24 hour, 3 phase power for homes.
* The pipelines and canals fetching Narmada water, more than 140,000 check-dams and village ponds across the state had solved the drinking-water and irrigation problems in a state that was perennially drought-prone, arid and dependent on water-tankers ferrying expensive water.
* The number of registered unemployed in Gujarat had actually declined by over 15%.
* Narendra Modi's individual charisma and clean image as a most uncorrupted politician became a huge advantage.
* To top it all, the past five years were riot-free, curfew-free, and despite being targeted by several terror groups from across the borders, terror-strike-free.

Modi's Cultist Image:

This election was all about Narendra Modi. None of the local issues were highlighted and this election looked like a referendum on Narendra Modi.

The English language media which hates Modi, had indirectly helped him by keeping him in the limelight in what it considered as highlighting Modi's misdeeds. As the thumping results show, it boomeranged on them.

Modi's personality of being a macho man with a 56 inch-size chest, a leader who toils for Gujarat, a politician who will get things done in New Delhi and the Hindutva hero who will keep Muslims under control - all these, each in its own way, has helped him win the votes of a majority of Gujaratis.

Gujaratis, who are entrepreneurial and hardworking loved their chief minister who would attend office from morning till late in the night. Also, his decision to sack one-third of the sitting MLA's proved advantageous. He thus overcame anti-incumbency factor in a big way.

Blunders by Opposition Congress Party:


* The Congress gave too much of importance and relied on the dissident Patel leaders in BJP. The public just shunned the dissident leaders and romped home the chief minister.
* Sonia in her very first day of the campaign, called those who ran Gujarat "merchants of fear and death". The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh said a "reign of terror" existed in Gujarat and as if that wasn't enough, one of the party general secretaries, Digvijay Singh commented about "Hindu terrorists" in Gujarat.
* Bitter infighting in Congress resulted in no viable candidate to counter Modi's charm and charisma.
* Congress Party's personalized campaign against Modi boomeranged against them. They should have delved more on rise in prices !
* Congress was from the beginning, fighting for the sake of survival and existence instead of a strong opposition party.
* Being the head of the oldest party in India, Sonia Gandhi had stooped to the level of the Chief Minister of a state. Sonia has been a disappointment. Sonia Gandhi indirectly helped Modi increase his stature in the national politics.

Contrary to belief's, the Gujarat elections is not about Hindu Nationalism or Congress pseudo-secularism. But, it was a referendum on Modi's economic agenda which does not have a populist component.

While everyone was expecting a close call, the above statement by Sonia, which was over and over again stated by many of Congress leaders, had closed the elections in favour or Narendra Modi.

Modi, who was concentrating more on his developmental works had to shift focus towards defending Gujarati pride and Hinduism because of the idiotic planning of the Congress.

Congress handed over Gujarat to Modi !!

Dirty Politics

As dirty as it sound, the politics in Karnataka have proved once again that politics is played in dirt.

The Bharatiya Janata Party resigned after losing the Confidence of the house as they couldn't cobble up the required strength on the floor of the house. Main culprit is their coalition partner, the Janata Dal (Secular) which refused to vote in favour of the BJP government.
As I am writing this post, the Central Government had imposed President's Rule in the state of Karnataka and kept the Assembly in Suspended Animation (which means that it can be activated as and when any coalition tries to form a government).



One reason is that key portfolios like Mining, Urban Development are retained by the BJP. The JD(S) considers these portfolios as "lucrative" and wanted these portfolios to be given to their ministers.

Second and most important reason is the Family Politics. Till now, Mr. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister. Kumaraswamy is the youngest of the four sons of former Prime Minister and JD(S) President, Mr. Deve Gowda. Now, his other son and Minister, Revanna wanted to enjoy the fruits and wanted to see himself in the seat of CM instead of BJP. From the beginning, he was against a tie up with BJP. His wife, Ms. Bhavani would soon join the party and contest from KR Pet constituency in Mandya District.
Now, Deve Gowda wants to make Revenna as CM with the help of Congress Party. Hectic parleys going on in New Delhi between the leaders of JD (S) and Congress.

Sources also said if Gowda had let Yeddyurappa continue in office, it could have been fatal for the JD-S in the next elections. Yeddyurappa had gathered huge public support after he, as finance minister, presented a budget where he provided loans to farmers at four per cent interest, waived of loans, banned both arrack and lottery. Gowda felt Yeddyurappa may score over the voter through better administration.

This time around, the people who have no political ethics should be routed and make them sit at Home and repent for what they have done to the state and its economy.