Why has the TRS chief resorted to this gimmick? Is it because Rao feels he has become irrelevant in the state and national politics after the people rejected his party in the 2009 polls? A leader, who thought that he was going to play a crucial role in the formation of the government at the Centre, is dejected that he has lost out. However, can the Telengana card be of use more than once? The TRS won a handsome victory in the 2004 elections on this emotive issue. But the 2009 elections showed that there was not much sympathy for the cause as the TRS was unable to deliver.
The sentiments for a separate Telengana are as old as Nizam's Hyderabad state. Telengana, comprising 10 districts including Hyderabad, was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad State. After the police action in September, 1948, the Hyderabad state remained as a composite unit until 1956. It was merged with Andhra State in 1956 to form Andhra Pradesh although the people of Telengana wanted to have their own identity.
The Telengana issue is coming up time and again because a perception has gained ground among the people in the region that not much development has taken place and that if it becomes a state they may get allocation of adequate resources from the Planning Commission. They complain that they are backward in every possible way be it in jobs, irrigation, infrastructure or in education. Some unscrupulous politicians take advantage of this emotive issue and use it for their own purpose to launch agitations. In the late sixties, Maari Chenna Reddy, (who later became the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh twice) led the Telengana movement but soon gave it up and joined the Congress party. A late entrant into the movement was K. Chandrasekhara Rao, who came out of Telugu Desam Party (TDP). He revived the movement successfully and the TRS won 24 seats in the Assembly and six seats in the Lok Sabha. The Congress then combined with the TRS, CPI and CPI-M. The understanding was based on the Congress assurance to help achieve a separate state. Chandrasekhara Rao became a minister in the first UPA government along with A. Narendra but later resigned to protest against the UPA Government's failure to do anything to set up a separate state.
The 2009 poll story was different. KCR teamed up with TDP leader N. Chandrababu Naidu and joined the “grand alliance.†However, to his dismay, Rao found that the TDP cut into his votes rather than those of the Congress; the result was that his party won just 9 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats including his own. The other MP, film actress-turned-politician Vijayashanti is already in the Congress.
Why is the movement not picking up? It may take a long time for the people of Telengana to achieve their goal because of geopolitical reasons. People from the other two regions - Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra - are opposed to dividing the state. Moreover, the state capital Hyderabad, the pride of the state, will go to Telengana if a separate state is carved out. If one goes by the vote bank politics, although Telengana has a sizeable number of seats, the two regions combined together have more seats.
Secondly, the separate Telengana movement lacks credible leadership. When he launched the movement, KCR had some support. Expelled BJP leaders like A. Narendra and some disgruntled leaders from TDP joined him; but soon differences cropped up and they left him. Today KCR only has the support of his nephew and a few other leaders.
Thirdly, people got disenchanted with KCR when he was unable to deliver. He instigated students to join his movement which he claimed would be non- violent. But when the students enraged by his ending of the fast went on the rampage in Karimnagar and Hyderabad, he resumed his fast again. He seems to be riding a tiger now.
Fourthly, KCR proved to be no match to the late Chief Minister Y Rajasekhara Reddy. Had YSR, as Rajasekhara Reddy was known among his friends and followers, lived, he would have decimated the TRS by wooing its legislators. The then Chief Minister had already done so by winning over Vijayashanti; others are lining up to join the Congress. Present Chief Minister K. Rosaiah is yet to find his feet and the local Congress has its own problems. Now that YSR is no more on the scene, KCR is on a mission to embarrass Rosaiah.
Fifthly, the movement does not have the whole-hearted support of political parties in the state. For instance, the ruling Congress reluctantly agreed to have a relook at the Telengana cause just before the 2009 Assembly polls for electoral gains. The TDP, which was against a separate Telengana in 2004, made a U-turn and supported the cause for the sake of a “Grand alliance†just before the Assembly polls. TDP is trying to survive after its humiliating performance in the elections but has no intention of joining hands with the TRS. The left parties, which are facing problems, arte not interested in the Telengana movement either.
Last but not the least, students seem to have taken over the TRS. They went berserk when Rao ended his fast on Monday and questioned him why he instigated the students earlier. A helpless Rao had to resume his fast a day later to pacify the students who are on the streets now. He alone will be responsible for any violence if the situation goes out of hand.
In such a situation, how can KCR win? People may soon teach him a lesson that political opportunism will not get support. Also it has been proved that the same emotive issue does not click again and again. The Ayodhya movement is a classic example. People are vigilant and see through the games of the politicians. (IPA Service)
Andhra Pradesh
TELENGANA ISSUE IS IN THE NEWS AGAIN
BUT THE MOVEMENT LACKS SUPPORT
Kalyani Shankar - 2009-12-03 09:45
Telengana is in the news again. Tension has mounted in Andhra Pradesh with Telengana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K. Chandrasekhara Rao going on a fast unto death.