15 days! Congress sits tight and clueless :(

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it here for reference.

It has been 15 days since Digvijay Singh and Ajay Maken made the announcement that the CWC is recommending to the Government of India to create a separate State of Telangana. It has been 15 days since protests have engulfed the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions. Every passing day made the protests worse and saw agitations getting intensified; and every passing day the number of public representatives who have resigned has only gone up!

From the midnight of August 12, a whopping 4 lakh Government employees belonging to the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions have gone on an indefinite strike, demanding that all the public  representatives of the region resign.

Following are the services (Government and otherwise) that have been severely affected.

1. Twelve Ministers have resigned, therefore, they are not attending office. The only thing they are doing now is ‘strategising’ over the next steps for the agitation.

2. Road Transport (nearly 10,000 buses off the road)

3. Revenue Collection

4. Schools and Colleges are all closed, because teachers have also joined the protests.

5. All Non-gazetted employees in all State Government offices have not attended office – effectively no file movement.

6. Most small business shops are closed in the day time.

7. The Tirumala Temple saw the least crowd in nearly 30 years – the reason being that buses going to Tirumala were also off the roads! A late night agreement was reached though to exclude these buses from the general strike.

8. Chief Minister himself has sparsely attended the office in the past couple of days!

Meanwhile, Sonia’s Congress and Digvijay Singh continue to confuse the people of the State. There is a near uniform condemnation from all parties of the tricks that the Congress is playing – even parties that are strong votaries of a separate State are now totally wary of these tricks. The Anthony Committee began work last night it seems. Believe it or not, the committee is also deliberating on whether to visit Hyderabad or call leaders to Delhi ! Even when the State is in such dire straits, these Congress leaders don’t find the need to visit the State and soothe emotions from here!  Yesterday, more than 50 MLAs, MLCs, MPs and even Union Cabinet Ministers held a dharna in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside Parliament house complex! Their demand was simple – don’t bifurcate the State.

This chicanery of the Congress is definitely not going well with the people of the Rayalaseema and Andhra regions. The Finance Minister P Chidambaram has made a statement in the Rajya Sabha announcing that the Government is going ahead with the process. He has enlightened us by saying that there are two parts to this whole thing – the decision making and the implementation. The decision making has been done and the Government has now started the implementation process. He said that the Home Ministry is preparing a comprehensive note, but has refused to give a timeline to when this report will be ready and tabled! Digvijay Singh, who lives in his own world, has also told us that there is no time limit to Anthony Committee report. The process will continue irrespective of the deliberations of the Committee it seems!

Under such abysmal leadership, the future of the State looks really bleak. And the worst part is that we haven’t seen the worst yet.

Modi wave sweeps Hyderabad!

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it here for reference. 

When Narendra Modi greeted the people assembled at Lal Bahadur Shastri stadium in Telugu with sodara sodarimanulu (brothers and sisters) in Hyderabad on Sunday,  the crowd had expected him to stop right there but to their surprise, Modi continued to speak in Telugu and that too flawless; leaving the crowd mesmerised with his powerful demure.

His flawless Telugu helped him create an immediate connect with the enthralled listeners. This is precisely why Modi was (is) a big hit with packed house at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. However, after a wonderful effort to communicate in Telugu, he apologised to the crowd, saying that even if they are outside the stadium, they will still be in his heart! These assertions were greeted by a thunderous applause. As expected, the PM chants were also heard throughout the rally. Not just the crowd, even leaders from the BJP were exhorting that only Modi can lead this nation out of misery. It would really be a travesty if Modi would not be the Prime Ministerial candidate of the BJP.

There were separate zones for both women and men and one could easily sense the festive mood even before Modi arrived at the venue. A mere mention of his name in various folks songs rendered by cultural artists on stage, evoked continuous applause. We could see hope in the crowd and an intense anticipation that this is the man India needs now. Speaking to a few of them was enlightening too – a youngster said, “All I know is we get no electricity and Gujarat has 24X7 power. All I know is that while Gujarat is developing, we are suffering badly. I will vote for Modi only because of what he has done there!”

Another greatest strength of Modi is his ability to identify local issues and reaching out to people. His slogan, Jai Telangana, Jai Seemandhra was extremely well received by the crowd. He has shown his intent that the BJP will work for a much better amicable solution than what Sonia Gandhi has done. When he mentioned NTR, sections of the crowd went into rapture! It was quite innovative of him to suggest that since NTR’s aim was Congress Mukht Bharat Nirman too and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will need to think of how best it can be achieved! The key part of his narrative on NTR will form a major political discussion in Andhra Pradesh, but that analysis is for another day!

The crowd comprised not just youngsters but people of every age. One elderly gentleman, I met early in the day was pleading with the Police to allow him to enter the stadium, as he didn’t have a pass because he just wanted to listen to Modi. (He was guided later to a kiosk where passes were issued). Speaking of the elderly – the entire stadium was moved when Narendra Modi touched the feet of two elders and took their blessings. The first, an 85-year-old woman (the entire storify of how this happened is here)  and second an 86-year-old man (who despite being a heart patient waited for hours to hear Modi) gave their blessings in the full view of crowd. It was truly an emotional moment.

Three other prominent speakers who mesmerised crowd were Bandaru Dattatreya, when he broke into an old patriotic Telugu song. Venkaih Naidu with his superb alliteration skills wowed the crowd; and last but not the least, the State BJP president, Kishan Reddy’s speech was very comprehensive. When he started countering Digvijay Singh, the crowd went into a tizzy – such is the anger that man evokes here!

Today, I learnt that watching a speech on TV and watching it Live are two entirely different things. The feel, the excitement and the thrill of watching a leader communicate so well is something that needs tobe experienced. The crowd inside and the waiting crowd 

Finally, the CM speaketh!

The following article was written for Niti Central. Reproducing it here for reference. 

After remaining silent for exactly nine days after the Congress Working Committee resolution for the creation of Telangana was passed, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister has decided to talk to the people of the State.

He started his Press conference by first expressing sadness over the demolishing of statues of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. He said that today’s Andhra Pradesh is because of the mercy (he actually used a word in telugu that means mercy!) shown by Nehru. He also said that Indira Gandhi fought for the unity of Telugus in Parliament. Finally, he told us that Rajiv Gandhi has always yearned for a developed Andhra Pradesh.

Next, as has been the custom of every Congressman, he first pinned the blame on YSR, saying it was he who took 40 MLAs to Sonia and started this whole debate. At that time, even TRS had not been formed. Then he reminded us that TDP took a decision in 2008. Finally, Congress took a decision. An earlier article on NitiCentral contains details of how and why various Congress leaders are blaming everyone except Sonia Gandhi, so we won’t get into those details here.

He then informed the Press that the Congress has formed a high-level committee to look into specific demands and therefore has urged all striking employees (and those who have given notice to strike) to stop doing so and make their representations to the committee.

He then invited questions from the media. While answering these questions, he started reeling out statistics listing out the various problems that will arise in the discussions:

1. Water sharing

2. Electricity sharing

3. Employee situation

4. Status of Hyderabad

5. Punjab-Haryana disputes are still pending in the Supreme Court

He gave specific examples on how Telangana will become badly electricity-deficient under the current circumstances (saying the demand-supply gap will be more than 40-50 per cent). Last year, the State had a 15 per cent supply-demand gap and we faced a severe power crisis. The Chief Minister has asked us to imagine what the situation would be if that gap is as high as 40-50 per cent?

He also spoke about specific projects related to water sharing that will need to be resolved amicably. He spoke about many irrigation projects along Godavari, Krishna and other rivers and questioned the central government as to how these problems can be resolved amicably?

He grew particularly sentimental when talking about Hyderabad (“This has been a capital for nearly 55 years. It’s not easy to let go of it. I was born and bought up here.”). He stressed that never in history has such a well-developed capital city region has had to be split, so unless the Central Government gives more clarity, things can’t move forward.

In summary, he has said us that no committee has answers on any of these modalities. He repeatedly said that these are his representations to the Central Government and it is up to them to find solutions before even thinking of asking the Assembly to discuss the matter. He was pretty insistent that the Assembly must discuss all these issues.

Questions were posed to him on the validity of the Antony committee. This is purely a Congress committee, so how can the CM ask striking employees to come and submit representations to this committee? The CM answered by saying that it is true that the party announced this committee, but it still has two senior Government ministers in it nonetheless. From various reactions, it looks like this reaction has cut no ice!

The Chief Minister was trying to impress that a split of the state is not beneficial for any part of the state. In his own words: “A problem should be solved by showing a solution. A problem cannot be solved by creating a bigger problem.”

The Press conference clearly indicates that the Chief Minister is dead against this decision. He has upped the ante and thrown the gauntlet before the Central Government led by his own party. He has listed out problems that have the potential to delay the process indefinitely too. Telangana MLAs have already started spewing fire. This clearly validates Narendra Modi’s questions to Sonia Gandhi — if the CM himself is so disenchanted with the decision, what exact efforts has she made to bring about a consensus within her own ranks?

Another (Hopeless) Committee!

The following article was written for Niti Central. Reproducing it here for reference.

It has been more than 206 hours since Sonia Gandhi (through Congress Working Committee resolution) announced her decision to split the State of Andhra Pradesh. Moreover, since the announcement came, the Andhra Pradesh has been burning and the Chief Minister is still yet to communicate with the people of the State. He is yet to come out and explain the reasons behind this turmoil and how his administration plans to handle it. Wonder, what or who is stopping him from communicating to the people?

Meanwhile, the multiple Government departments have given notices for indefinite strike. Strangely, some are striking for a united State and some are striking for a quick split! Following is a brief list of departments (within and outside the Government)  that have given strike notice.

1. Andhra Pradesh Non Gazetted Officers Association: A whopping total of 3 lakh employees of the government under the aegis of APNGOA will strike work from the midnight of 12th August. Their strike will continue till all (please bold this) elected representatives from Seemandhra resign.

2. Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation: All the buses of the RTC will go off roads from August 12 onwards across the entire state!The Telangana employees want a quick resolution and the Seemandhra employees want a united state! Already, buses are not leaving depots in some districts in Seemadndhra. Only the night services of RTC are currently active in this region. Incidentally, the Pradesh Congress Committee chief is the Transport minister of the state!

3. Revenue Department: Employees of the Revenue Department will go on a indefinite strike starting August 12. This essentially means that all kind of real estate deals will come to a grinding halt.

4. Singareni Colleries: Coal workers at the Singareni Colleries are planning to strike work demanding that the Central Government introduce the T Bill in the current Session of Parliament only!  The deadline given by them is August 22, 2013. The last time they did this,the State plunged into a severe power crisis.

5. All colleges and schools in the Seemandhra region have been shut down since the last 8 days. For now, they have announced shutdown till the Aug 12, 2013. Schools and college students are also taking part in various United AP rallies.

6. Telangana Joint Action Committee: The T-JAC has announced that it will start rallies from next week demanding that the Congress put an end to this uncertainty as soon as possible.

7. Small business shop owners are unable to transact full business hours. Banks are unable to fill up ATMs with cash – thereby causing severe inconvenience to consumers.

Amidst all this, what does her highness Sonia Gandhi do? She constitutes a high-level committee within the Congress to study the demands of the only the Seemandhra Congress leaders. In an earlier article, we have detailed the various conflicting demands of these leaders, but let’s now take a look at how Sonia Gandhi is going in the reverse direction to resolve this issue.

1. First, she first announces that the Congress will split Andhra Pradesh.

2. Her own MP’s from Seemandhra openly complain that they were not even taken into confidence before this announcement.

3. Then, she meets them and tells them that this decision is final and there is no going back.

4. They persist.

5. She now sets up a high-level committee that will listen to these various demands and then submit a report.

6. Union ministers from Seemandhra claim that till the report is submitted, the process of splitting the state will be halted.

7. Sonia Gandhi does not setup any deadline for submission of this report – thereby throwing the whole state into another round of confusion!

The questions on everyone’s mind are: 

1. Why was this committee not setup earlier?

2. This is a Congress specific committee – so, where will the leaders of other parties go with their demands?

3. Digvijay Singh informed that the Union Government will set up a committee that will discuss and finalise modalities – if so, why the two committees? Why this exclusive privilege to Congressmen when many apolitical people are also involved in the struggle?

Many people are being put to severe hardships because of these never ending protests and compounding confusion by Sonia Gandhi. The danger of Andhra Pradesh seeing protest rallies in all its 23 districts is no more imaginary – it might turn out to be real as soon as next week only. It is baffling to note that the ‘national media’ has all but taken Andhra Pradesh off their radar. Even more baffling is the deafening silence of the Chief Minister, Prime Minister and the Super PM.

Seven days since CWC, Congress refuses to give clarity!

The following article was written for Niti Central. Reproducing it here for reference:

In a sign of the ominous times ahead, there is a heated debate going on amidst sections of political parties on various issues if the State has to be split. As is their wont, the Congress is hell bent on compounding the confusion. Their leaders are infact making competing attempts to win the ‘who creates the most confusion’ competition. Upon persistent demands from the BJP, the Finance Minister P Chidambaram made an announcement in the Rajya Sabha on August 5, saying, “The Ministry of Home Affairs will bring a comprehensive note for the Cabinet containing both substantive and procedural issues for the decision of the Cabinet. These will include sharing of river waters, generation and distribution of electricity, safety and security of all residents in all the three regions, guarantee of Fundamental Rights of all citizens.”

In the early days, Congress leaked that the Cabinet will immediately take up the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution. Now, PC refuses to even give a ball park time frame for this! In an attempt to appease the Central Ministers from Rayalseema and Andhra regions, the Congress has set up a high-level 2 member committee led by AK Antony. This committee will primarily hear out the demands of only the Congress leaders from Rayalseema and Andhra regions!

Here is a summary of demands made by several Congress leaders: 

1. The Chief Minister, PCC chief and nearly 80 MLAs have signed a resolution demanding that the State should not be split.

2. At least eight MPs have also resigned saying that they will not settle for anything less than a United State.

3. A couple of Union Ministers have demanded that Hyderabad be made a Union Territory (UT) and also the permanent common capital of both the States!

4. Some of them are resorting to the rhetoric that ‘justice’ has to be delievered to Seemandhra (no one has a clue on what they mean by ‘justice’!)

It is plainly baffling as to why the Congress did not resort to this exercise ‘before’ making the announcement! After blaming everyone except Sonia Gandhi. Digvijay Singh tells us that they are thinking of modelling Hyderabad on the lines of Delhi.  What exactly did he mean by the Delhi Model –  the law and order will be with the Central Government it seems. He then goes on to say that they are working on other such proposals and does not divulge more details on it.

This set off a series of reactions in the State:

1. KCR came out thundering saying that even though he is ok with Hyderabad as a joint capital for 10 years, the Telangana Government ‘must’ have control over Hyderabad. Anything else is not acceptable.

2. Union Minister Chiranjeevi has been demanding that Hyderabad must be made the permanent common capital and also a Union Territory.

3. Telangana JAC has organised a protest strike bemoaning the ‘Seemandhra conspiracy’ to stall Telangana!

The discussions haven’t even begun and this is the level of confusion and acrimony, which is prevailing. Why doesn’t the Congress just announce a date for a Cabinet meeting; announce a date for setting up of a review committee (to go over modalities of the split); announce a date for open meetings with this committee – basically, why doesn’t it assure people of a proper time frame and ask them to be patient? Not a single assurance has been given to the agitating folks. Not a single proper appeal has been made.

Nearly 160 hours and the AP CM is yet to address the people of this State. A local newspaper Andhra Jyothy has carried out a news item saying that the CM will speak in a day or two – what exactly is he waiting for? The report also states that the CM is not ready to preside over the split of the State and hence, is in deep deliberations! Why can’t he put an end to these leaks and communicate directly with the people? Instead of providing a healing touch in times of distress (there has been no let down in the agitations and protests), all that the Congress and Sonia Gandhi are doing is to compound the confusion.

Shun the violence

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it below for reference:

 

Over the weekend, there was no respite from the continuous protests against Sonia Gandhi's decision to bifurcate the state. We are into Day 6 and there really does not seem to be any end in sight.

 

Buses are not being allowed to leave from a majority of depots, in 13 districts of the state. RTC buses plying within city/town limits are being routinely stoned - thereby causing severe inconvenience to passengers.

 

Many a time, highways are being blocked thereby causing massive traffic jams on the highways. At times, government office buildings are being stoned too, thereby causing loss of property.

 

It is our honest appeal that these kind of violent forms of struggle are shunned, so as to not inconvenience those people who have genuine needs to travel and trade. Ordinarily the CM of the state needs to ensure that essential services like buses, trains etc are not disrupted beyond a reasonable amount of time. Since 6 days, we are witness to this spectacle of near absent governance, and hence are forced to make this appeal to the protesters - please at least allow the buses to ply.

 

Last evening, the AP Non-Gazetted Officers association has given a strike call from the midnight of 12th August (of all elected representatives don't resign) - we are now in the danger of seeing a replica of the 46 day strike that Telangana govt employees resorted to, in 2011 - the state was put through severe hardships because of this. Hopefully the AP CM will step in to avoid another such severe inconvenience to the people. Or are we hoping against hope?

The chicanery of Congress..

 

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it here for reference:

 

Back in 2011, when the census was being planned, there was a demand by some political parties like RJD, SP, JD(U) that a caste census should be done. At that point of time, the Congress and the BJP had not taken any call. The Prime Minister as usual appointed a Group of Ministers (GoM), which was not able to take a decision given the deep divide within the Congress and therefore, wanted a written assurance from all the political parties (putting the onus on the BJP and others) about caste census.

 

It waited till all the Parties (including BJP) gave an assurance and then announced that a caste census will be carried out. At a time when the Congress was not able to take a decision, it majorly pinned hopes on others not being able to decide. However, a decision was taken just because the ruling party (UPA) had no view, but all other parties had a view on this! The Congress expected that the BJP (or any other significant Opposition party) will say no and then it (Congress) will pass the blame on other parties perhaps!

 

This exact same chicanery is now being exhibited by the Congress at a time when Andhra Pradesh is burning. In the past six days, in a manner that only Congress can resort to, the Congress workers have blamed both Chandrababu Naidu and YSR for the current predicament. ‘Mother Sonia’ of course! has nothing to do with this.

 

Why are they blaming TDP and Chandrababu Naidu?

TDP took a decision in 2008 to support the formation of Telangana. They submitted a letter to the Pranab Mukherjee led GoM (yep, another one of those GoMs!) It reiterated it’s support in 2012. Ministers from the Congress are saying that because TDP and Chandrababu Naidu supported the split of the State, this situation has cropped up! It is because of him that ‘madam’ came under pressure to take a decision it seems, and therefore, she ended up taking this decision. If ‘madam’ merely follows TDP in taking important decisions, then she might as well give up power and let TDP rule. Right?

 

Why are they blaming YS Rajashekhar Reddy?

While announcing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution, Digvijay Singh has tactically mentioned that as the Leader of Opposition in 1999, YSR led a contingent of 40 MLAs to Sonia and demanded that a separate State of Telangana be formed. Congress then submitted a memo to the NDA Government in 2002, asking for a second SRC (which the Congress never formed during its 9 years reign).

 

State Congress leaders, including Ministers and PCC chief have started throwing the gauntlet on the YSRCP, blaming YSR for stoking the Telangana fire in the first place. Ever since Jagan quit the Congress, the party has made a desperate attempt to separate itself from YSR. YSR was a lifelong Congressman, and a known staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family. Does Congress really want to believe that Sonia Gandhi had no role in writing the letter to the NDA Government? Does Congress want the people to believe that whatever YSR did, was not approved by the Congress high command?

The latest resolution signed by none other than the Chief Minister!

 

On Saturday, the Chief Minister and PCC chief met nearly 80 elected representatives of the Congress from the Rayalaseema and Andhra region at the Chief Minister’s residence. Amongst the many resolutions they passed – the key one was urging Sonia Gandhi to withdraw this decision. The Chief Minister and the PCC chief have both signed this document and has been sent to Sonia Gandhi.

 

How do these people expect others to not to look their chicanery? If the AP CM and PCC chief are so disheartened and are so disapproving of this decision, why don’t they just resign and make a stronger statement. What value does this resolution even have? This particular meeting went on for four hours. A couple of days earlier, Ministers met the Chief Minister for nearly four-and-a-half hours. The AP CM and PCC chief would have been privy to the plans of the high command – if so, are they sharing them with one section of their party so as to plan more effectively? What is it that they know, that we don’t?

 

The deafening silence of the AP CM

 

It has been nearly 135 hours since the CWC resolution was announced. Since then, the State has been burning. In the typical Congress way of working, the AP CM has not yet found the need to communicate with the people of the State. Not a single word about the current crisis. Who is stopping him from communicating? What is with the Congress and their hatred towards effective

communication?

 

Finally, here’s a poster put up by the Ministers belonging to the Congress. This is in Telugu – translation of the first line reads thus: “This (Telangana) is a blessing given to us by Mother Sonia.” Truly, this chicanery knows no bounds.

 

 

Missing Person ad for AP CM !!

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it here for reference:

 

As we enter day-4 of the unrest in AP (and other parts of the country too), the situation does not show any sign of improvement. Buses are off-streets, shops are closed, colleges remain shut- in essence, people are suffering. Unfortunately, violent incidents are also on the rise. If anything, there are only signs of deterioration because of confusion being compounded by what some leaders are speaking and by the Department of Leaks in the Congress.

 

Before we get into the details, let’s do a quick recap on the resignation saga currently being played out.

 

The resignations saga

The saga of resignations is still continuing. More and more MLAs and MPs are tending their resignations in wake of the formation of Telangana. The number is volatile and changes by the hour. However, the biggest story on Friday was how the four Union Ministers, who had tendered their resignations, backtracked following ‘suggestions’ from Digvijay Singh. Diggy apparently told them to stay put so that they make their voice heard strongly when Parliament discusses the Bill. The Ministers have therefore, postponed their resignations with Diggy for now it seems! Which brings into focus the nature of their resignations? If they resigned as Ministers, the resignations need to go to the Prime Minister.

 

If they resigned as MPs, resignations need to go to the Speaker. And if they resigned from the Congress, resignations need to go to Sonia Gandhi. But we are now witness to this weird scenario! The Department of Leaks continues it’s charade. Today’s The Hindu had a front page story titled - AICC had struck a ‘secret deal’ on Rayala-Telangana.

 

Sources explain the nitty-gritties about the thought process behind orchestrating such a ‘deal’. The report further reveals that the ‘Department of Leaks’ in the Congress is anything but a shutdown. The report also exposes the blatant hypocrisy in the thinking of the Congress – amidst such unrest in the State, it is unfathomable to think why ‘sources’ would continue to compound the confusion.

 

The leaders speaketh

1. K Chandra Shekhar Rao (KCR): Merely two days after saying that “I will personally ensure the safety of all Seemandhra people in Hyderabad”, the president of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) spoke at a meeting of the Government employees on Friday. In this, he has categorically said that all the Andhra employees have ‘no option’ but to go back. He said that they have to go back because the new Government in Andhra Pradesh will need their help. This has set off a chain of reactions, with the non-gazetted officers association of the AP Government announcing an immediate strike to protest his utterances. Most TV debates this morning have focussed their discussions on this statement, with there being an all round condemnation. KCR further clarifies that he never said: “Telangana walo jaago, Andhrawala bhaago“. He was only referring to those Andhrawalas who obtained illegal Government jobs in Telangana!

 

Such a loaded clarification is obviously not cutting any ice with the protesters – for starters, how come there are so any illegal Government jobs?! The State Government employees in the Secretariat have taken out rallies in the lunch break in the past two days, requesting the Congress for more clarity on this exact same fear that they have – Will they be allowed to even stay in Hyderabad, where they have built their families and homes? As always, the bigwigs of the party and the Government have not given any clarity on this.

 

Some are arguing that KCR’s utterances need not be given so much importance. Many disagree – because, here is the man whose party will merge with the Congress and share power once the State is formed, and here are his utterances, which are anything but soothing.

 

2. K Chiranjeevi: A very strong proponent of an united AP before joining the Congress, he has announced that he will bow down to the decision of the high command, whatever it is. True to his word, he has not overtly raised a banner of revolt. Nor did he offer to resign, despite public clamour back home for it. And on Friday evening, he added some fuel to the fire. He suggested two things: One is to make Hyderabad the second capital of India (yes, you are reading it right!) and the other is to make it the permanent common capital of both the States. Nothing further needs to be elaborated on how this suggestion was recieved!

 

3. Digvijay Singh: First, there is a very strong point being made in the TV studios and on the streets. Who exactly is Digvijay Singh to speak to the people of AP? Who is Digvijay Singh to guide the division process of the State? Why is a mere Congress functionary being given so much importance? Answers that the ruling party obviously does not have. Digvijay Singh told reporters that the Centre will help in building a better capital than Hyderabad! We don’t even know where to begin with, to counter this argument! Just how is it possible to build a better capital in such a short span?

 

Folks on TV have started reeling out statistics to counter this bunk by Diggy – and hence the questions on what exactly is his position to command such authority!

 

4. The CM of AP: Ha! He hasn’t spoken yet. It has been 85 hours (at the time of writing this piece) since the CWC resolution was passed. He has not found the need to communicate with his people! All we hear is that he is meeting Ministers and discussing the fallout. Amidst all this, he has not forgotten to host a Iftar on Friday evening. The State Government’s Iftar party went according to the plan, with all dignitaries attending it!

 

Some folks placed in advertisement in a local edition of a newspaper, saying that the AP CM is missing! (picture courtesy – @Ravi_TG )

The icing on the cake is that the Congress leaders are blaming the TDP and BJP for the decision that their madam took. So much for party loyalty!

Why the people are angry?

 

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting it below, for reference:

 

“It was only at the last moment that everyone was called to Delhi and informed about the final decision of the high command.”

 

Prominent Congress MP from Seemandhra, Undavalli Arun Kumar had this to say when asked about why they did not do something to stop this decision.

 

For those outside the State, a brief introduction about this MP: The very few times that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi visited the State to address public meetings, Arun Kumar was the official translator. His translation was more powerful than the mundane speeches of the mother-son duo. Arun Kumar is also amongst the most prominent voices advocating a united state. He even organised multiple public meetings, reeled out many statistics to put forth counter-arguments; and was one of the most visible faces of the Congress in the State.

 

If such a prominent voice was not taken into confidence, what exactly has Sonia Gandhi really done to communicate with her leaders? It speaks volumes about the “inclusivity” of Sonia Gandhi that she found it fit not to take into confidence her party’s 17 MPs that the region sent so that she could continue to rule over India.

 

This is the best time to revisit Narendra Modi’s first question to Sonia Gandhi — what efforts were made to arrive at a consensus within the party? Clearly zilch! Sonia Gandhi’s open contempt and disdain is baffling people here.This is one of the most prominent reasons as to why the people of the State are furious at Sonia Gandhi (and by extension the entire Gandhi clan).

 

The two types of angry people

 

1. Those who do not want to divide the State. The nameless agitators who are out in the streets in

thousands (yes, you heard that right — THOUSANDS) do not want to split the State at all. These nameless folks belong to various NGO’s — are students belonging to various colleges, Government employees, various forums advocating a united State. These people are the ones calling for bandhs. They are the agitators who are holding up highways and bringing down statues of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

 

The intensity of the agitation and the bandhs have been quite severe. The intensity might come down soon, for many people are being put to difficulties (there is a limit to how much people will bear with non-plying buses and trains!). However, the anger might also manifest in other forms of protest — something similar to protests by people of Telangana earlier.

 

One Congress Minister was apparently confused as to why the statues of these two leaders was being burnt down when they have been strong advocates of a united State! Clearly, these congress leaders have not kept up with the times!

 

2. Those who demand more clarity on the bifurcation. Those who are resigned to the fact that the split is inevitable are totally lost on the modalities of the split. They are hurt and angry that Sonia Gandhi is leaving open many loose ends and is not making an attempt to clear this confusion. Political leaders want to ensure that no “injustice” is done to the Seemandhra region — but they have no clue how to do it! State Government employees are angry that they are being left in the lurch in this entire process.

 

The lingering concern about how the concept of a common capital will work is uppermost in the minds of folks in Hyderabad. The Telangana JAC petioned the State BJP unit to demand that the Congress in Parliament give better clarity on this aspect too!

 

The anger of these people is open to see in TV studios (a powerful medium in AP). How can Sonia Gandhi make such an important decision in such a secretive manner? How can the Congress led by her not give enough clarification on various aspects?

 

The continuing drama of resignations

 

Meanwhile, elected representatives of various parties are having to face the wrath of the nameless agitators. Especially the Ministers and MLAs of the Congress. In an attempt to be seen bowing down to the pressure from people, 26 MLAs, 13 Ministers and 10 MLCs have announced that they will resign.

 

Out of these 26 MLAs, 16 have given their resignations to PCC Chief, thereby making sure the gesture is little more than symbolic. Eight have gone to the Speaker to submit directly, but the Speaker was not available. Two have apparently faxed their resignations (please note that these numbers are appearing differently in the media. All we know for sure is that eight of them went to the Speaker.

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Seven to eight Ministers out of 13 went to meet the Chief Minister. An hour later, the remaining folks joined the meeting. The meeting lasted for a whopping four and a half hours — after which only 4 Ministers have confirmed their resignations! As usual, various leaks to various media outlets happened. The Ministers who have decided to stay put are doing so because they want to “fight effectively” for the rights of Seemandhra people! Apparently, the Chief Minister and the PCC chief advocated this stance — this is inevitable, so let’s stay and ensure that no ‘injustice’ is done! The confidence that the higher echelons of AP Congress have in the Delhi high command is awe-inspiring!

 

It is now being said that there will be a bigger meeting of the Seemandhra CLP on Saturday and a better course of action will be decided!

 

It was also being mentioned that 15 TDP MLAs will be resigning. The TDP politburo is meeting today. More clarity is expected on these resignations after the meeting is over. Out of the 175 MLAs, about 80 have either resigned or have shown inclination to resign.

 

The latest word is that some MPs and Central Ministers will also resign, but we have to wait till the end of the day to get more clarity on this.

 

The depressing lack of communication from leaders

 

The most worrisome aspect in the last 65 hours is the woeful communication of the Andhra Pradesh Government. It is a given that Sonia Gandhi has taken the people for granted and has decided not to communicate.

 

The baffling aspect is that the Chief Minister of AP is yet to communicate with the people of the state – he has not come on TV and explained to the people why the state he is incharge of is going to be split; how he plans to help us tide over this crisis; why it is important to realise this is inevitable.

 

All we keep hearing is that Digvijay Singh releasing some random statements. Frankly, no one here cares about what Digvijay Singh says or thinks – he is a non-entity for the people of AP. The people need to hear their Chief Minister or their Prime Minister to reassure them. Nothing of that sort has happened yet. If this doesn’t happen within the next 24 hours, people will have one more reason to get angry!

 

Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde spoke yesterday to the Press and no one ended up wiser than before. He tells us that it typically takes eight to nine months to carve out a new State but they hope to speed this up to 6 months. Amidst this acrimony, it is really baffling to believe how they will complete this process? Does the Sonia Gandhi-led Congress know something that we mere mortals don’t? Or are they as clueless as ever? Only time will tell!

 

PS: The Situation is so bad in Andhra Pradesh that the CM and most Ministers skipped Iftar hosted by the Governor of AP. I will say it again. Congress people skipped IFTAR!

Congress continues to leak ...

The following article was written for Niti Central. Pasting is below for reference:

 

Yesterday, we mentioned that the Congress has put a full stop to its leaks on Telangana. It turns out that we were wrong. Last evening, sources belonging to the department of leaks told CNN-IBN that “options of including Kurnool, Anantpur in Telangana have been kept open”. There really seems to be no end to the dangerous games that Sonia Gandhi-led Congress is playing.

 

Let’s take a look at what happened in Andhra Pradesh since July 31.

 

Results of 3rd and final phase of Panchayat poll

Panchayat polls were held this month. They were delayed by two years for various reasons. The third and final phase was held on Wednesday. The results were out by the night. The Congress and TDP have evenly split the honours — going by 99 per cent of the media reports. The one per cent media – Sakshi TV however, has a different take (not unexpected because it is owned by Jagan Mohan Reddy).

 

Elections to the Panchayat are not held along party lines. Hence the number of panchayats won by various parties vary. Most of the media though, has placed near equal numbers for both the Congress and the TDP (absolute numbers vary). However, there is another uniform opinion that since these elections take place under the aegis of local issues and local politics, we can’t read too much into them.

 

For example, the TRS has drawn a blank this election. Given the situation right now, it would be impossible for an outsider to believe so!

 

The situation in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra

 

The unthinkable has happened in Andhra Pradesh. The State, which is generally known to revere the Gandhi family, the State where most of the Government schemes are named either after Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi, the State that Sonia Gandhi takes for granted, was witness to the vandalising of the statues of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi!

 

It was not vandalisation in the dead of the night. These incidents occurred in broad daylight. First the protesters threw slippers at the statue of Rajiv Gandhi and then they set fire to two statues of Indira and Rajiv. Rajiv Gandhi’s statue was brought down at another centre. Such is the anger that has permeated into Seemandhra.

 

Before the announcement was made, most Congress leaders (Ministers, MLAs and MPs) had announced that they will resign if an announcement favouring Telangana was made. Many of them are yet to resign, and therefore, have invited the wrath of the agitators. They are directly questioning why these leaders are still silent! These leaders plan to meet at 7 pm on Thursday to announce further course of action. We wait till then.

 

Meanwhile, most parts of Rayalaseema and Andhra remain shut down on Thursday. Shops, schools, other establishments will remain closed.

 

The situation in Telangana

 

There is no change in either the celebrations or the caution being advised. Given that the department of leaks is still active, people are still wary about how the whole process will go through. It is also raining quite heavily in the State, putting a leash on victory rallies.

 

 

Telangana Congress leaders have started telling people that though the State will be divided, the Telugu people will stay united. They tell us that Telugu speaking people are mentally united always. There were no takers for this bunk being peddled by these leaders. After demanding vociferously for the split, such rhetoric is cutting no ice.

 

The reaction of leaders and political parties

Sonia Gandhi has made no attempts to talk to the people yet. Apparently, she told Congress supporters to “sell the idea of Telangana aggresively”. Why doesn’t she come out and try to assuage people’s fears and feelings is beyond the understanding of the aam admi.

 

It has been nearly 40 hours since the CWC announcement was made (as of this writing), the Chief Minister is yet to address the people of the State. It is quite telling that a part of the State has been shut down. This silence only compounds matter further. This silence is becoming more inexplicable by the passing hour!

 

Chandrababu Naidu spoke to the Press, stating that he will not talk politics for now, but demanded clarity on a variety of aspects. He wanted a definite time-frame defined for the entire process. He also demanded that the Centre allot at least Rs 4 lakh crore to build a new capital. The TDP politbureau will meet on the August 2 and more clarity will emerge from the party then. For now, it looks like he has been able to keep his house in order.

 

MIM has demanded that the entire process be completed in 122 days! 122 because it will coincide with January 1! MIM also wants prominence for Urdu in the new State of Telangana (whatever that means !).

 

The confusion about the process continues

 

Employees of the State secretariat who belong to Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra have taken out a rally demanding clarity on what their status will be? Will they be asked to leave? How will they be working under the concept of a common capital? Who will guarantee protection of their rights? These and many other questions were posed by them, and quite rightly so!

 

Various newspapers have started providing in their inputs on resource-sharing. They have put out current statistics on the state of various resources (water, land, power, debts etc). Parallel discussions have begun since many believe that this time there is no going back on the split. Most of the discussions though, are based on a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’.

 

There is also news that Thursday’s Cabinet meeting might not discuss Telangana at all! If so, another dirty game of the Congress will be exposed!

 

The genius Digvijay Singh tweeted saying that the settlers in Hyderabad have nothing to worry about. The word settlers is so demeaning. By this logic, is it fair to call Digvijay Singh a settler in Delhi? This genius also tweeted that Seemandhra people should be happy because they have huge gas resources and therefore, have the potential to become an electricity surplus State. Really? Then pray, why has AP been facing such a great power crisis all these years?

 

This is the level of discourse from the Congress to assuage the fears of the people of the State. Tweet saying gas resources are huge and therefore there is no reason to worry! Instead of playing caretaker and ensuring that a proper discourse is put in place, the Congress continues with its old tricks of compounding the confusion.

 

Unfortunately, the outlook for today is also very gloomy. Let’s wait and see how the day pans out.

 

(Photo courtesy: Eenadu newspaper)