No president’s rule for the moment, states reorganisation panel likely, sources say.
The backlash was swift and along expected lines. A day after the Centre virtually put Telangana on the backburner, the issue returned to singe Andhra Pradesh on Thursday.
Amid a spate of resignations, a bandh threat by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhara Rao (KCR) and inflamed passions on both sides of the Telangana divide on the day, the Centre hinted at setting up a states reorganisation commission (SRC) as a way out. It ruled out president’s rule.
“The possibility of a second SRC is being discussed both at the political and administrative levels,’’ sources in the government and the Congress said. They said invoking the president’s rule option at this juncture would bring the Centre in direct confrontation with the pro- and anti-Telangana lobbies.
Earlier in the day, 11 Congress MPs from Telangana submitted their resignation to party president Sonia Gandhi demanding a concrete answer. On Wednesday, home minister P Chidambaram had sent confusing signals by stating that “there was a need for wide-ranging consultations on Telangana”.
“The Centre’s statement should have reiterated its commitment to Telangana. However, it only talked about consultations. The government should have indicated that while it remains committed to Telangana, it was only trying to build a consensus,’’ Madhu Goud Yaskhi, Congress MP from Nizamabad, said.
“We reiterate that the people of Telangana are ready to wait but they want an assurance that the Centre will deliver on its promise [to create a separate state],” Sarvey Sathyanarayana, another party MP from the region, said.
Over 70 MLAs cutting across party lines resigned in Hyderabad protesting the home minister’s statement.
Meanwhile, KCR, who gave a bandh call on Friday but later withdrew it, has rejected Chidambaram’s proposal. “We feel it is an insult,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)
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