The Centre, it is learnt, feels that the protests will fizzle out in a week, giving the government enough time to decide on what needs to be done next.
The Congress leadership has apparently decided to wait out the protests against the Centre’s decision to carve out a separate state of Telangana from Andhra Pradesh.
Senior Congress leaders told DNA that the party has asked its MPs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema to go back to their constituencies, promising that nothing will be done in a hurry. The Centre, it is learnt, feels that the protests will fizzle out in a week, giving the government enough time to decide on what needs to be done next.
Sources said the central leadership of the party is in no mood to negotiate or send an emissary to Hyderabad, where several party MLAs have submitted their resignations, plunging the K Rosaiah government into crisis.
On the demands for new states being raised in other parts of the country, the government is going to sit tight, the sources said. Senior leaders, including finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, have made it clear that the movement for Telangana is different from other such demands.
Party insiders said the crisis precipitated by the resignation of Congress MLAs also seems to be headed towards a resolution, especially with the possibility of president’s rule in the state looming large.
Though there is no confirmation yet, many of the MLAs who had put in their papers are in a mood to withdraw their resignations. “The general fear is about president’s rule coming into play. None of the MLAs is in favour of that situation. Mostly, the withdrawals should start happening shortly,” a source in the party said. “Most of the MLAs feel that they were successful in communicating their view on the Telangana issue to the high command through mass resignations. Withdrawing resignations would not harm their standpoint,” the source said.
In another indication that the crisis may be nearing an end, the 21 ministers — from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema — in the Rosaiah government, who had offered to quit are yet to hand over their resignations to the chief minister. According to those tracking the developments, even Rosaiah, agitated with the behaviour of his cabinet colleagues, had threatened to step down.
But for Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the worst is not over yet. The TDP has virtually split into two, with party leaders from Telangana accusing Chandrababu Naidu of changing his stand, and the MLAs from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema refusing to withdraw their resignations.
Meanwhile, protests against Telangana continued in parts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. Protesters have apparently decided to target the central government property to express their displeasure against the Centre’s decision favouring the creation of Telangana.
On Sunday, the protestors in Anantapur burnt down two railway stations. On Saturday, the protestors had burnt down a BSNL warehouse. At least 24 people have been arrested, the police said.
Telangana, on the other hand, continues to remain peaceful. Students of Osmania and Kakatiya universities, which were headquarters for protests demanding Telangana, are busy preparing for the semester exams scheduled to begin from December 22.
(With inputs from Javed M Ansari in New Delhi )
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