Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Andhra Pradesh slated for later this week is off. The PMO, however, was careful to say on Monday evening that the visit has merely been postponed, not cancelled and would take place in the near future.
The AP government appeared to have been caught by surprise after it received a communiqué from the PMO on Monday informing them that the PM’s visit on July 9 and 10 stood cancelled. No reasons were apparently given for the cancellation in the official note.
But there are reasons why the PM’s visit to the southern state has been cancelled at the last minute. The simmering issue of the formation of a separate state of Telangana appears to have contributed in a substantial way to the decision to call off the visit.
With UPA-2 and also the Congress in a bind on the sensitive issue of the carving out of Telangana from AP, it was felt that the PM’s visit to the state would not be wise at this juncture. Sources told this newspaper, “With the Telangana issue not settled yet, the issue also was whether the PM should say anything on the issue or not say anything.”
The visit also would not have been at an opportune time as bypolls for 10 Assembly seats in the Telengana region are scheduled for July 27. These seats as well as another two in the Telangana region fell vacant following the resignation of 10 sitting TRS MLAs as well as one each belonging to the TDP and BJP to press the demand for the creation of Telangana.
Sources also said that there was also a “problem” with the two projects whose foundation stones were to be laid by the PM during his Andhra visit. While one is a Rs 6,000 crore worth BHEL-NTPC power project which is slated to come up at Mannavaram near Tirupati, the other was for the upgradation of the Tirupati airport to an international one.