Delhi’s position on Telangana continues to be hazy, with leaders of ‘pro’ and ‘anti’ Telangana movements still in the dark over any clear-cut stand by the Congress central leadership. AICC spokesperson Manish Tiwari, during the regular party briefing on Monday, said the Telangana issue would be resol-ved only when the process of consultations was completed.
He explained that it was a highly sensitive subject which needed proper study and asse-ssment before a decision could be made. Union minister Vayalar Ravi, who returned to Delhi from Kochi, was busy the whole day, clearing files pertaining to his ministry. He was expected to resume his talks with TRS chief K. Chandrase-khar Rao, who has been camping in Delhi for over two weeks now. However, there was no word from either on fresh consultations. TRS leaders hope that talks would be resumed within the next two days.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s busy schedule, with several pressing issues on her agenda like the AICC revamp and Union Ca-binet reshuffle, seems to have pushed the Telangana issue lower on her priority list. Even MPs from Seemandhra like K.S. Rao, J.D. Seelam and A. V. Ramireddy, who met state minister S. Sailajanath, said not-hing was moving in Delhi on the T-issue. “We are going to return to the state, since there is not even a whisper on the T-front here. The presence of Mr Rao in Delhi for the past few weeks does not worry us,” MP K.S Rao said.
TD’s T-leaders on tenterhooks
Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu skip-ped a decision on the T-letter at the party’s extended state committee meeting at NTR Trust Bhavan here on Monday, unnerving party leaders from Telangana. They were upset over the party's failure to discuss the T-letter issue at the meet.
Sensing trouble, Naidu later sent word that he would discuss the matter with T-TD leaders in the next two or three days and come clear on it.
Senior party leaders, including Telangana TD Forum convener E. Daya-kar Rao, Kadiam Srihari and others, opined that the party should put out a letter or statement, clarifying its stand on Telangana before the Telangana march on September 30, to instill confidence in the people of the region: it would be of no use, if offered later. Seemandhra TD leaders asserted that Mr Naidu, who would undertake the padayatra from Hindupur in Anantapur district from October 2, was unlikely to
dash off a letter immediately to the Centre, supporting Telangana, in view of strong opposition from party leaders from the region, including P. Keshav, and in view of the Centre’s indecision on the issue.
Mr Naidu made a passing remark on the Telangana issue at the fag end of his address at NTR Trust Bhavan. “We are discussing the Telangana issue — for two or three days,” he remarked.
A TD leader remarked, “Mr Naidu may talk about the T-letter during his padayatra in Telangana.” Said a T-TD leader, “We haven't lost hope. We will bring pressure on the party chief to give a letter before September 30. If not, the party will suffer in the region.” Earlier, Mr Naidu attacked both the Centre and the state governments for its anti-people policies and condemned the hike in diesel price, which would have a cascading effect on all sectors, including the APSRTC, which announ-ced a hike in bus fares; the cap on LPG cylinders, sev-ere power cuts hitting far-mers and industry hard.