Former Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy is all set to conquer New Delhi with his massive show of strength on Tuesday along with hundreds of supporters and farmers, besides at least a dozen MLAs.
Jagan, who returned to Hyderabad from Visakhapatnam by cutting short his “Odarpu Yatra” on Sunday, left for New Delhi in a special train to take up the deeksha at Jantar Mantar on Tuesday.
Though it is claimed that the deeksha is to protest against the injustice meted out to Andhra Pradesh in the allocation of Krishna waters by Justice Brijesh Kumar Tribunal recently, it is ostensibly an attempt to display his strength before the Congress high command, thereby challenging its might.
At least 20 MLAs and MLCs, besides a couple of MPs are expected to take part in the deeksha, which will definitely embarrass the Congress high command. Now, it remains to be seen whether the high command will dare take any action against the MLAs for supporting Jagan!
The report that former minister and Parkal MLA Konda Surekha is not going to New Delhi to participate in the one-day “deeksha” of former Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has taken media persons by surprise.
Surekha, a staunch loyalist of Jagan and a bitter critic of the Congress party, was busy holding a meeting of her supporters and party workers along with her husband Konda Murali on Sunday, at a time when Jagan was leaving for New Delhi in a special train along with hundreds of supporters and farmers. She did not even give him a send off. Apparently, it was a strategic move on the part of Jagan himself.
According to sources, Jagan has entrusted Surekha with the responsibility of building up his party in Telangana region and as per his plan, Surekha and her husband have started taking up the pro-Telangana movement. Surekha said the Telangana Congress leaders have miserably failed to bring pressure on the Centre to grant Telangana and so, they would launch the movement again. That is why, she decided to stay away from the Delhi rally.
Well, the SKC report is out and it is looking very clear that the possibility of bifurcating Andhra Pradesh is ruled out. Apparently, the SKC report came out with six options but then the focus is more on option 6 which goes ‘keeping Andhra Pradesh united by simultaneously providing definite constitutional, statutory measures for the socio-economic development and political empowerment of Telangana region and creation of statutorily empowered Telangana Regional Council''.
While that may be the committee’s analysis, here is another analysis that is sounding more apt. There is a very good reason why Congress cannot give T-state and this is purely for political reasons. For starters, the decision has to be taken by the high command though it is garbed as the decision of the regional political parties. Right now, it is a damage control measure due to the immature statement issued on December 9th, 2009.
The key problem they are seeing now is the emergence of Y S Jagan and already the Seemandhra and Coastal Andhra Congressmen are not up for splitting the state. So, if the high command is to give a T-state then it will brew an internal revolt and ensure that Jagan gets the red carpet welcome. On the other hand, congress will become dummy as the wily fox KCR will project himself as the messiah for the Telangana masses and dump congress.
Already, he has been making moves to join hands with Jagan so that a mid-term situation can be reached and he can cash in on the sentiment. The congressmen realize KCR is not trustworthy so joining hands with him would mean doom. For now, by going in for a developmental package, CM Kiran Kumar Reddy and Co can focus on improving the projects and gain public confidence in the T-region before the 2014 elections commence. The high command realizes that Andhra Pradesh is the only state which has been loyal to the congress and also the highest contributor of seats since the 1977 emergency.
As for the people of Telangana, it has never been the sentiment but purely a political driven movement by the TRS which was formed by exploiting the sentiment. Right now, they are confused with the SKC report as it is looking quite ambiguous. As for the Congress high command, they will now rethink on their strategy and work on countering the Jagan tsunami and the KCR trouble.
The Justice Srikrishna Committee has recommended a united Andhra Pradesh with Constitutional measures for socio, economic and political empowerment of Telangana as the “best way forward” to “continue the development momentum of all three regions”.
The much-awaited report, which was released by the Centre on Thursday, stated that a united state was recommended keeping in mind the national perspective and also internal security matters.
The committee said though there might be immediate backlash which were likely to continue for a period of time, it would be possible for the government to contain and control the agitations once people understood the advantages of the state staying united. To achieve this, it has advocated firm political and administrative management.
The 500-odd page report showed a leaning towards a united Andhra Pradesh, and stated that the second-best option of separation (carving out Telangana with Hyderabad as capital) was recommended only if it was “unavoidable” and “if the decision can be reached amicably amongst all three regions”.
The committee said the demand for a separate Telangana, however, had some “merit and was not entirely unjustified”. It said that a Telangana state would assuage the emotions as well as the perceived sense of neglect of a “large majority of Telangana people”.
It was of the opinion that Telangana could be considered given the long history of the demand, highly-charged emotions at present and the likelihood of the agitation continuing unless handled deftly, tactfully and firmly.
Meanwhile, the committee has dismissed its three options such as maintaining status quo, carving out a separate Telangana, declaring Hyderabad as a UT and creation of Rayala-Telangana as impractical.
People in Hyderabad heaved a sigh of relief as there were no untoward incidents as anticipated after the contents of the Srikrishna Committee report were made public.
Most people preferred to remain indoors expecting some violence from the supporters of Telangana, particularly students. This was evident from the fact that many schools and colleges worked for just half the day. Many people were glued to their television sets, surfing channels for the summary of the report.
Though Osmania University postponed the ongoing Ph.D admissions on Friday, the authorities said they will resume from Saturday.
“I have been regularly following the developments of the Srikrishna Committee since May last year. The deployment of heavy paramilitary forces across the state just before the submission of the report created a sense of panic among the people. But when the report actually came out, there was nothing to object for anyone as it has only recommended six options instead of saying a clear yes or no for the Telangana state,” said Mr K. Kalyan Kumar, a senior teacher, residing in Vidyanagar, adjoining the OU campus.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Students Joint Action Committee (TSJAC) on Thursday vowed to wipe out the Congress in the region. It hit out at the Congress saying that it was resorting to various gimmicks to sideline the issue and they would accept nothing short of Telangana state.
Addressing students, the MLC, Mr Chukka Ramaiah, and Telangana Praja Front leader Gadar urged them to take the movement into their hands and lead from the front with the cooperation of political parties, employee associations and public societies.
“We didn’t expect the Srikrishna Committee would offer multiple choices much like an examination. Now you need to exercise caution as the multiple solutions given by the Srikrishna Committee will give rise to some kind of misgivings. Be disciplined and go ahead with the struggle with dedication,” Mr Ramaiah told the students.
TSJAC leaders Anil Kumar, Srihari and Krishna said that they would step up the movement further.
The OU police booked six cases against students. Despite being provoked, the police exercised restraint and did not venture into the campus. While 24 policemen were injured in the stone pelting, three students — Ravi Kumar, Anil and Parasuram — sustained injuries when police opened fire with rubber bullets on Thursday evening. They were shifted to Gandhi Hospital for treatment.
Two students were treated while the condition of third one Ravi Kumar, a law student, is serious. Doctors found that the bullet which pierced through his stomach was found to be a metallic one. Doctors performed surgery and took out the bullet. He was put under 24 hours observation.
Launch of India's latest communication satellite GSAT-5P onboard homegrown GSLV-F06, powered by Russian cryogenic engine, failed on Saturday when the rocket developed a snag soon after lift-off from the spaceport in Sriharikota.
The rocket blasted-off at around 4 pm from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at the end of the 29-hour countdown but was hit by a snag in the first stage itself, Indian Space Research Organisation sources said.
"The incident occurred in the first stage itself", the sources said, adding, details would be disclosed later.
This is the second failure this year for ISRO after the previous GSLV mission with the country's maiden cryogenic engine hit a snag and the rocket plunged into the Bay of Bengal on April 15 this year.
PTI Justice B. N. Srikrishna, Chairman of the five member committee on the Telangana issue.
Justice Srikrishna said the committee had aimed at the highest satisfaction of the largest number of people when drafting their report.
The Srikrishna Committee, which held wide-ranging consultations over the past 11 months on the demand for a state of Telangana as well as to maintain the present status of a united Andhra Pradesh, on Tuesday said it would give an “impartial and professional” report that would seek to achieve the “highest satisfaction of the maximum number of people.”
The five-member panel, headed by the former Supreme Court judge, Justice B. N. Srikrishna, will submit a report by December 31 to Home Minister P. Chidambaram. It was appointed on February 3.
At a press conference here, Justice B.N. Srikrishna expressed the hope that the committee's report would seek to bring about a “permanent solution” to the statehood demand. All political parties had promised to maintain peace, harmony and calm after the submission of the report. “I hope peace prevails in the State after the report is submitted. It is the responsibility of the politicians and the media,” he said.
Indicating that the report would run into two volumes, committee's member-secretary Vinod K. Duggal said it would offer “several options with their pros and cons.'' Every aspect mentioned in the terms of reference of the committee was looked into in a detailed manner and the issue at hand [Telangana] was analysed in all its “hues and shades.”
