Congress Ditching Telangana

After going through the news reports past couple of days, it looks like the more than 100 year old Congress Party is shying away in implementing what it stated in its manifesto - a Second State Re-Organization Commission (SRC) which will decide on the separate statehood for Telangana.


The Congress, which is ruling now, took the support of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in the previous elections saying that they are in support for a separate Telangana state and won the elections. The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which was in power at that time was dead against separate state. Now, with the elections just couple of months away, the parties have taken completely opposite stand.

The TDP, which is in opposition is now supporting Telangana while the Congress Party which is ruling the state is against Telangana.


Looks like these two major political parties are taking the aspirations of the 3 Crore Telangana people for a ride. These two Political parties have got habituated in going against what they have pledged during the election campaigns. At the sametime, Telanganites have got used to getting ditched by their own politicians whom they elected.

For the sake of getting Ministries in the Central and State Governments, the TRS also didn't take up the Telangana issue vigorously. They sat on the issue and now with elections very nearby, they are again taking up the issue seriously - once again to take the people for a ride.


All these political parties should be taught a lesson. Unless they come out with a timeline for a separate Telangana, we should not vote to these parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had already stated that once they are in power in the central government, they would give Telangana within 6 months. During the earlier BJP rule, they carved our states like Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh and proved that they would stick to their word. The BJP had already passed a resolution for separate Telangana state in their once in a year meetings. Other parties have still not passed such a resolution in their own meetings.

Before we go for voting, we got to make sure to vote to those parties which stick to their word.

Congress Ditching Telangana

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy is trying the show off that he is a Master strategist. During the previous assembly elections, he had an understanding with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and fought the elections and won the elections. One of the agendas is creation of a separate Telangana - albeit through a second State Re-Organization Committee.(SRC)

Second SRC never came nor any commitment for a separate state. Looks like those who are in power never want to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh. The earlier Telugu Desam Party(TDP) refused the separation point blank and now the same party has ditched its stance and supports a separate state.

Important Political Parties For Telangana:

* Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
* Communist Party of India (CPI)
* Telugu Desam Party (TDP)
* Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)
* Nava Telangana Praja Party - belonging to Devender Goud who split from TDP

Important Political Parties Against Telangana:

* Congress Party
* Communist Party of India (Marxists)
* Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM)

Important Political Parties Who are Neutral or not yet taken a decision:

* Loksatta Party
* Praja Rajyam - belongs to the film actor, Chiranjeevi

Each party has its own stance on the Telangana issue. BJP was the first political party to take a right decision regarding the separation while others jumped into the fray due to other political reasons.

Two days back, the Chief Minister went to New Delhi for a Congress core committee meeting on Telangana issue. He informed the party chief, Sonia Gandhi that Congress is on a strong footing on Telangana. Looks like YSR is day dreaming. The day he says that he is against Telangana, Congress would be routed in entire Telangana region where TDP and TRS have a good following.


YSR is taking the party high command for a ride and he is going to drown the party along with him. When he was in a meeting, he ensured that all the Muslim MP's, MLA's and MLC's from Congress campaign against Telangana.

There is lot of similarity between YSR and Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Jinnah fought for a separate Pakistan saying that Muslims would never be safe in Hindu India. Now, YSR is projecting the same.

Will TRS & NTPP Merge With TDP ??

The idea of a merger between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP) came to me today morning after going through the news reports that TDP is going to formally give support to a separate Telangana State while some of its Telangana based leaders went to the extent of starting off a agitation for the separation.


Till now, there were two major political parties in Andhra Pradesh - The Congress Party and Telugu Desam Party. Now, a whole bunch of parties have sprung up giving a nightmare to the voter in choosing a proper political platform to vent his anger. The major parties in Andhra Pradesh now are:

* Congress Party
* Telugu Desam Party
* Telangana Rashtra Samithi - Only in Telangana Areas
* Praja Rajyam Party
* Nava Telangana Praja Party - Only in Telangana Areas
* Communist Party of India (Marxists) - CPI(M)
* Communist Party of India - CPI
* Bharatiya Janata Party
* Loksatta Party

and a host of smaller and marginal political parties which are mostly based on caste equations.

The Congress Party is going to contest on its own now as the Communist Party of India (Marxists) had withdrawn its support.


The Telugu Desam Party is scouting for alliances and looks like it is going to get support from CPI(M). It is heard that TDP is also in talks with TRS. Once TDP comes out with a clear policy on separate Telangana, TRS should have no problem supporting TDP. Devender Goud recently came out of TDP to form Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP). If TDP supports Telangana state, NTPP "might" consider supporting TDP. After all, TRS and NTPP was carved out of TDP. If all the three merge, it would be sort of a re-union.


Mega Star Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam categorically said that they are out of a grand alliance to bring down the Congress Government. They are keeping their options closed to their hearts. They still have to come out with clear policies on lot of issues and the most problematic one is their stance on separate Telangana State. They said they would come out with a decision after a while. It is heard they are talking with non-congress and non-TDP political parties.


The Communists in Andhra Pradesh are always jumping alliances. They are the most opportunist political party here. Till now, they were supporting the Congress. They withdrew the support once the Congress went ahead with a Nuclear Deal with the US.

The Loksatta Party is formed by a former IAS Officer, Jayaprakash Narayan, who wants to clean out the scum from politics. Not sure how many would support this party. I voted them during the by-elections to Khairatabad Assembly Constituency a few months back. They lost to the Congress.


The Bharatiya Janata Party is hardly visible in the state. With 42 Lok Sabha Seats from Andhra Pradesh, AP plays a very key role in making and breaking Governments in the Center. The BJP is keep to form next Government in the Center but with not a single seat from AP in it's kitty, it would be very difficult for them to form a Government. The party in AP is in shambles with too many leaders who have no issues to fight for. It is in a moribund state now. It got to be revived with good and clean leaders like Himayatnagar MLA, Kishan Reddy.

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!!