Instability in Congress, Telangana demand made headlines in Andhra Pradesh

A cocktail of instability in Congress and the demand for separate Telangana statehood combined to produce a politically-charged situation in Andhra Pradesh through 2010 and promises a lot more in the coming year.

The political chaos that actually began towards the end of 2009 ran through the whole of 2010 and may continue in the new year over the Telangana demand on which the Justice Srikrishna Committee submitted its report yesterday.

While the prime reason for this seemingly prolonged turbulence is the demand for and against the bifurcation of the state, the internal strife in the ruling Congress party has also been a large contributing factor.

The agitations for and against the division of Andhra Pradesh that began in December 2009 and spilled into the first half of 2010 not only paralysed the state administration but also left the main political parties in shambles.

The happenings within the Congress also left Andhra Pradesh in a state of political uncertainty throughout the year as the ruling party failed in many ways than one in managing its own affairs. Governance, as a result, appeared to have become a casualty.

Disarray will only be a mild word to describe the state of Congress as it was forced to replace a "non-effective" chief minister (K Rosaiah) on the one hand and to contend with the rebellion caused by YS Jaganmohan Reddy, the son of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, on the other.

New chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is facing a tough challenge from Jagan, who is waiting for the opportune moment to dislodge the state government, though for the record he has promised to let it continue till 2014.

Jagan's first rebellious act was embarking on the 'Odarpu' Yatra for consoling families of persons who died of shock or committed suicide following his father's death.

In fact, he used the controversial yatra for a show of strength and building a base for himself across the state, particularly in the Andhra-Rayalaseema regions.

The response to his road shows proved that Jagan not only succeeded in his plans but also compounded the woes of the beleaguered Congress.

By already attracting close to 30 MLAs, half-a-dozen MLCs and about five Lok Sabha MPs of Congress to his side, upon his exit from the party, Jagan has already sounded the warning bell for the Kiran Kumar government.

Come 2011, Jagan will launch his own political outfit with the main objective of decimating the Congress, which he quit in December. He may be keen on attracting the "fence-sitters" in the Congress jump on to his bandwagon, endangering the survival of the Kiran government.

Jagan apart, Congress also faces uncertainty from within as the Telangana protagonists in the party too have openly declared a war if statehood is not granted.

The cracks along regional lines in Congress that began appearing in December 2009 only widened in 2010 as the high command remained apathetic to the developments in the party.

The principal opposition Telugu Desam Party is not in a comfortable position either. The TDP is split on regional lines with the Telangana leaders favouring a separate state while those from Andhra-Rayalaseema opposing it.

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu is unable to take a clear stand on the state division issue and is closely monitoring the happenings in the Congress so that he could devise his party's strategy.

Though initially there was hope in the TDP circles about the party's prospects brightening in the wake of Jagan's exit from Congress, the complete rout it faced in the July by-elections in Telangana has indeed become a cause for concern.

With the TDP still vacillating over its stand on the statehood issue, hope of revival in its fortunes in the Telangana region that was always considered its citadel may be scant.

The separatist Telangana Rashtra Samiti, on the other hand, is riding high on the "sentiment" wave following its spectacular showing in the by-elections where it won all the 11 seats it contested.

In fact, 2010 saw the TRS fighting a do-or-die battle to achieve its sole objective - securing statehood for Telangana.

It has taken the battle, with the help of other separatist forces, almost to a decisive stage this year, so much so that the political future of Andhra Pradesh now hinges on the outcome of this battle.

Year 2010 could well be a forgettable one for actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi as his two-year-old Praja Rajyam Party headed nowhere. By vouching for a united state, Chiranjeevi antagonised people of Telangana, so much so that his party has been reduced to nothing in the region.

After more than 10 months, however, he started attracting some of his fans from Telangana back to his fold for re-building the PRP.

But the PRP also seems to be stuck in an existential dilemma. It has done no good for itself by hobnobbing with the ruling Congress and in fact lost its credibility by showing a desperation to join the government.