Telangana ball is back in Centre's court

HYDERABAD: The response from the State parties to Union Home Ministry's letter, seeking their suggestions on the terms of reference of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana, has been disappointing.

All major parties, including the ruling Congress, present a picture of divided house on how to respond to the unfolding developments on the State's division.

As a result, the UPA government is left with no option but to go ahead with formulation of the Telangana Bill on its own, without much additional inputs from the State.

The State Congress is split into pro- and anti-Telangana groups and at least three other political parties ' Telugu Desam Party, YSR Congress party and CPI (M) have refused to acknowledge the GoM.

In the case of Congress, the views of the State unit do not have much impact on the Centre as the decision to divide AP was taken by the Congress Working Committee, the highest policy making body of the party.

While elected representatives of Congress from Telangana region sent their own report to the Union Home Ministry making various suggestions on the bifurcation issue, the Seemandhra leaders are said to be divided over sending such a report, as it would amount to agreeing to bifurcation. And, if they do not send any suggestions, the Centre might take into cognizance only the ones sent by Telangana leaders.

The Telugu Desam Party is understood to have decided against sending any suggestions, though it has not officially announced it. 'It is like hearing the arguments of the aggrieved parties after the court has given its judgement. There is no need for giving any reply to the MHA letter,' senior TDP leader from Chittoor Bojjala Gopala Krishna Reddy said.

On the other hand, YSR Congress Party president YS Jaganmohan Reddy sent a letter to the MHA on Sunday stating that his party was against bifurcation of the state. "We want to make it clear in no uncertain terms that our party is committed to an integrated Andhra Pradesh and would oppose any move to divide it," he said in the letter.

CPI (M) State secretary B V Raghavulu also wrote a similar letter to the MHA, stating that his party was against division of any linguistic State including AP.

'Therefore, we feel that there is no relevance for responding by us, at this juncture, to the terms of reference which are meant for bifurcation of the State,' he said.The TRS sent a comprehensive report to the MHA on Sunday giving a detailed suggestion to each of the 11 terms of reference of the GoM.

'We made suggestions and put forth legitimate demands including a package of Rs 4.5 lakh crore for development of the region and administrative authority over Hyderabad during the period when it will be joint capital,' TRS leader Etela Rajender said.

The CPI, BJP and MIM are also sending separate reports to the MHA with their own suggestions. 'The report is getting ready. We will send it by Monday,' a senior MIM leader said.