His repeated threats and lofty statements about bringing governments down to their knees made even some of the Telangana people look at him with cynicism. So much so that TV visuals of an emaciated KCR in hospital notwithstanding, some people remarked rather uncharitably that he is probably enacting another drama.
“TRS is now a party without a strong organisational structure. Unless they get their act together, there is little chance that the party can play a significant governing role in the new state,” feels Allam.
POLITICAL TIMING
But it has to be acknowledged that his fast-unto-death, a calculated but risky strategy, paid off. The timing of the fast was crucial given that Andhra Pradesh was in a limbo after YS Rajasekhara Reddy’s sudden death. Rosaiah’s government had just weathered a storm in the shape of ferocious advocacy from many MLAs and ministers for making YS Jagan Mohan Reddy ‘Jagan’, son of the late YSR, the chief minister. TRS recognised the opportunity to strike.
But the question remains if the Congress will carry through with its promise. “We are prepared to deal with any let-down and we have plans for a continuing student movement like that of the All Assam Students Union, with student unions from all the universities in the region coming together. We will take the fight out of the campus. But we want to be not just fighters but future politicians and policy-makers for our state,” says Rajesh Kota.
Not surprisingly, these developments have sent shockwaves through the people from coastal areas living and doing business in Telangana. While almost all the nine districts have a significant ‘settler’ population, with districts like Nizamabad at the top, it is Hyderabad, the proposed capital of Telangana, which obviously rankles the most.
Telangana activists can’t imagine a state without Hyderabad. “It is like a body without the head,” says Gaddar, the revolutionary balladeer. Hyderabad has been the fountainhead of many a righteous battle in the region for the past so many decades, he points out.
Hyderabad is a major IT destination; it’s the pharma and bio-tech capital of the country, and hosts some of the best educational institutions. About 30 major, 300 medium and more than 1,000 small organisations related to information technology and IT-enabled services, are located in the city. Plus, there is a significant representation of people from the coastal and Rayalaseema regions. Even in cricket, the Hyderabad Ranji team for decades now has presented a cosmopolitan picture. The latest Hyderabadi to win the India Test cap, Pragyan Ojha, is actually from Orissa.
As a cosmopolitan metro, the city absorbed everyone, from Andhra businessmen to thousands from northern India in the IT sector. Hyderabad got and still attracts the best of investments, and contributes about 30 per cent of the revenue to the exchequer.
So, for the non-Telanganas owning properties in Hyderabad, there are strong material and emotional attachments that make it hard to envisage an Andhra without Hyderabad. “I have lived here for 15 years and my heart is here. This is home,” says Sridhar Murthy, who is a native of Visakhapatnam. But, “civil war” is the consequence that the government would face if Hyderabad is separated from Telangana, warns Prof Jayashankar.
What are the other complicating factors for Telangana? Caste equations which saw many a battle between the dominant, land-owning Velamas, Reddys and others in Telangana may be a factor but may not be too threatening as “we have seen worse with the Andhra caste hegemony,” according to Rakesh Dubbudu, an RTI activist. NTR did change caste equations significantly bringing in more BC leaders, thus correcting some of the imbalances in AP politics due to the Kamma-Reddy domination, and the move benefited Telangana as well.
There will be other changes. The ownership of media, for instance, is entirely with Andhras, and it remains to be seen how they will relate to a Telangana state’s sentiments. Even the film industry will have to change its line, given the huge stakes in Hyderabad with mammoth infrastructure built up in the last three decades.
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