The suspense is over. The Congress is understood to have taken a call on the Telangana issue by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh. But in an anti-climax of sorts, claim insiders, the new state will be called Hyderabad and not Telangana.
Before a core group meeting on Friday, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is in-charge of the party’s Andhra Pradesh affairs, reportedly conveyed this decision to state leaders, including chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his deputy, Damodar Rajanarasimha.
A Congress working committee meeting to put a political stamp on the decision will take place within the next few days.
The comeback of the historic state of Hyderabad is significant: it was once ruled by the Nizams and and was on the Indian map from 1724 to 1948. At the time of the Partition, the State of Hyderabad was the largest and most prosperous of all princely states. After the reorganisation of states based on linguistic lines in 1956, the State of Hyderabad was split up between Andhra Pradesh and Bombay. Later, it was again divided among Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.
“The consultation process is over. Now, wait for the decision of the party as well as the UPA government,” Digvijay said after the meeting, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and attended by prime minister Manmohan Singh and senior ministers AK Antony, P Chidambaram, Sushilkumar Shinde and Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Both Reddy and Rajanarasimha, along with state Congress chief Botsa Satyanarayana, were briefed about the decision at the party’s ‘war room’ office at Gurdwara Rakabganj Road in Delhi. They were also asked to focus on how they can use this to the party’s advantage after a formal announcement is made, possibly on the floor of Parliament.
While Reddy and Satyanarayana are opposed to the bifurcation, Rajanarasimha has been lobbying for it.
Sources said Digvijay silenced the chief minister by telling him that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the decision, and, therefore, the issue is now closed.
Other issues discussed at the meeting included continuing the OBC status to the Kapu community in coastal and Rayalaseema regions, after the Telangana regions are carved out from the state.
As Congress readied itself, three Congress MLAs and 16 MLAs of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress resigned on Thursday evening, demanding a united state. Leaders of both regions were also present at the capital on Friday to put pressure on the central leadership.
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