Diggy brings neither unity nor clarity

HYDERABAD: The Congress is back to its cunning and confusing ways. At the end of AICC general secretary Digvijaya Singh's two-day visit to Hyderabad, none was left any wiser on one crucial question ' will the T State be created before 2014 elections?

To those opposed to State division, his message was: 'Don't worry. This is just a draft bill. We are not in a hurry. Please discuss the bill, clause by clause. The Government of India will be glad to consider your views and make appropriate changes.'

And, to the Telangana protagonists, he had similar words of comfort. 'Congress is committed to the decision it had taken. Like a loyal soldier, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy will also obey the decision.'

These words came just a couple of hours after Deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha declared, in full media glare, that they (T leaders) had no faith in the Chief Minister and would urge Digvijaya Singh to call for a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party to unseat him.

By suggesting to united AP votaries that the Centre/Congress prefers a detailed discussion in the Assembly, Singh apparently tried to rebut the charge that the entire process was sought to be done in a tearing hurry.

At the same time, is it his understanding that the discussion, in any case, would not last 42 days, the maximum time prescribed by the President, and would be wrapped up within a couple of weeks?

In a way, the Centre also seems to be looking for answers to certain questions which it couldn't resolve on its own, particularly those pertaining to contentious clauses like a common High Court and river boards.

Depending on what both the sides say, it will be easy for Delhi to take a call.

Opponents of division are interpreting Digvijaya's assurance as an indication that if the discussion indeed goes on till January 23, it would not be possible to introduce the bill in Parliament except in the vote-on-account session and the BJP may not be ready to oblige the UPA government at that time.

But, T votaries have been mollified saying that the Chief Minister would not drag the discussion deliberately while he is keen to have a 'meaningful' debate, something that no one can complain about.

Lest anyone still entertains any doubt, Singh said: 'If required, we will request the Speaker and the President for a special session of Parliament.'

Analysts, however, interpret the developments of the last two days as an indication that the Centre is still keeping its options open, in the process, confusing all the political players and preventing firming up of alliances earlier than desired.

Following up on his Thursday's invitation to activists of the Telangana Joint Action Committee (TJAC) to contest elections, Singh reminded TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao his promise to merge his party with the Congress, of course if the T State is created (read it with recent talk of a possible alliance between TRS and BJP). The message: 'We will give Telangana but we need you on board.'

This assumes significance in the wake of reports that Delhi is none too happy with the lack of effort on the part of its leaders in Telangana to convert the political decision in favour of statehood into electoral dividends. Throwing a carrot to JAC activists and at the same time, recognising the potential of the TRS was a part of this understanding.

As for folks within the Congress, Digvijaya Singh promised to soon create two regional PCCs - one for Telangana and another for Seemandhra - both of which will work under the existing APCC.

What it means is anybody's guess but the idea appears to be to get partymen active, retain the flock and see how the winds blow by the time the bill reaches Parliament.

Soon after Digvijaya boarded the flight back to Delhi, a senior Telangana leader described the outcome of his visit thus: 'There is neither gain nor loss.'

Finally, the off-the-record message conveyed to the media on behalf of the AICC honcho was that the primary purpose of his visit was to hasten the T process, whatever it means.